As with any soap opera, The Young and the Restless canvas is full of characters that tend to ebb and flow between being fan favorites and fan pariahs. That's not a slight to the actors that portray them by any means, as this ebb and flow helps keep the show interesting.
For example, Summer (Allison Lanier) has provoked the ire of many fans in her current custody battle with Kyle (Michael Mealor). I for one find Summer incredibly annoying these days as she tries to fight for custody of Harrison (Redding Munsell), using irrational logic to back her cause. Kyle may be out of line when it comes to his parents, but when it comes to Summer, I have to take his side.
Speaking of Summer, her mother Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) is another one who is trending toward the more annoying side of the scale these days. Between her constant snooping around Abbott-Chancellor and her now inserting herself in the middle of Summer and Kyle's custody issues, she's not winning any favor with me. This is especially true after her blow-up with Diane (Susan Walters) in The Young and the Restless episode that aired on August 9.
The whole conversation with Diane, as Jack (Peter Bergman) tried to play referee, left me frustrated with Phyllis. While I can appreciate Phyllis causing chaos when it pertains to her own life or to the lives of those she feels wronged her, her arguing with Diane about Kyle being the problem in the conflict with Summer was a bit unnerving.
Phyllis is the last person who should be judging Kyle and calling him out of control. And Diane is absolutely right, the more Phyllis inserts herself in this custody battle by whispering in Summer's ear, the more contentious this battle is going to get. I tend to think Summer is going to lose custody and blame Phyllis when this is all said and done, but I digress.
Having said all of this, in The Young and the Restless episode airing August 13, Jack verbalizes exactly what I've been thinking as it pertains to his once-affectionate "Red."
After Phyllis spots Jack and Harrison in the park, she approaches them and wastes no time taking unnecessary digs. First, she notes that she's glad Claire isn't around because she's "spending time with her actual family," which was a subtle shady remark that Jack picked up on.
Phyllis then brags about all the plans Summer has for Harrison, including the fun activities on the horizon, and says Summer loves Harrison more than anybody else in the world. Tired of seeing Phyllis' interaction with his grandson, Jack sends Harrison to go play. Once alone, Jack rips into Phyllis for trying to manipulate the little boy.
She, of course, defends her actions and again goes back to Kyle being the problem. Jack doesn't want to hear from her anymore and that's when he says the magical words. He tells her, "You know what I know? You have too much free time on your hands, and you're spending too much of it butting in where you're not wanted."
I watched Jack say those words and I felt the urge to applaud him as if he just delivered the State of the Union address (I didn’t actually clap). He said exactly what I've been feeling, which is Phyllis needs to butt out of everyone's business and get back to work. All she's doing is causing unnecessary trouble, and she doesn’t even realize that.
Now I understand part of me should probably feel bad for Phyllis because she's been the town pariah now going on two years, but that's due to her own actions. She faked her death, she hacked Jabot for Tucker (Trevor St. John) and she told off Devon (Bryton James) before quitting Chancellor-Winters. Phyllis may feel like an outcast but she keeps doing things to alienate people.
My hope for Phyllis is that she gets back to work soon in the corporate world and stops meddling in other people's affairs. Heck, the way things are going at the new Abbott-Chancellor, I'm sure Billy (Jason Thompson) would hire her.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
