With the Abbott family war waging on in The Young and the Restless, there is one sibling stuck in the middle of Jack (Peter Bergman) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson). Of course, we mean Billy (Jason Thompson) considering Traci (Beth Maitland) spends most of her time in New York these days.
When it comes to the youngest of John Abbott’s (Jerry Douglas) children, he’s built a reputation over the years for being reckless, impulsive, selfish and entitled. As of late though, Billy’s morphed into this pillar of responsibility and has developed quite the leveled head. Traits that have served him well in the Abbott feud but may ultimately not be sustainable long-term.
As viewers know, weeks ago Billy agreed to serve as a trojan horse for Jack and Diane (Susan Walters) and pretend to feud with the couple as a way to get Ashley and Tucker (Trevor St. John) to open up about their plans to attack Jabot. Since then, Billy has successfully convinced his sister and her now-husband that he’s on their side by having public and nasty arguments with Jack.
Although, for many looking on, these heated conversations seem to be a bit more real than fake. Not to mention, Billy appears to be enticed by Ashley’s ultimate plan of placing Jabot under her Simply Ashley umbrella and leaving Billy in charge of Jabot. He even talked about being intrigued by the offer with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) and betraying Jack during the week of August 7.
Then during the episode airing on August 15, Billy convincingly lashes out at Jack at Ashley’s wedding reception. Billy again states that Diane will be the downfall of Jack and Jabot, which leads the new Mr. and Mrs. Jack Abbott to leave the festivities.
Later on, when Billy and Chelsea are alone talking at Crimson Lights, she expresses her concern. While she understands the performative nature of his argument with Jack and Diane, Chelsea states, "I haven’t seen you like that in years. Not since Johnny was born. And frankly, it made me shudder."
#yr 🇨🇦spoiler Mon 🇨🇦 Tues 🇺🇸 #yr50I just realized that Chelsea has been with 4 different Billy’s pic.twitter.com/CukFQPzMQEAugust 14, 2023
While Billy ultimately reassures her that it was all just an act, it would seem The Young and the Restless may have foreshadowed that the old Billy is set to return. This is even more likely when you consider that Jack initially expressed concern about Billy participating in a Trojan horse plan for fear it would cause Billy to throw away all his progress.
So should the old Billy Boy Abbott return would could that mean?
Well, that could mean we see a Billy who decides to double-cross both Jack and Ashley in an effort to gain Jabot for himself without being under the influence of either sibling. He could sway the Jabot board members to side with him over Jack and Ashley, a move likely to leave the arguing pair fuming.
Such a gutsy and ruthless Billy previously took big risks like involving Jabot in his gambling woes, and even at one point sleeping with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), who was very much involved with Jack at the time.
Or perhaps things go even further left and Dark Billy returns. It wasn’t that long ago when Billy had a mental lapse and his darker persona emerged trying to kill Adam (Mark Grossman). Although that break in reality was largely due to his anger surrounding the death of his daughter Delia, who’s to say that all the rivalry between Jack and Ashley won’t trigger the sinister Billy to return?
Should the latter version of Billy come back, Genoa City will definitely want to be on the lookout. Although we have to say, a spiraling Billy could be something that finally gets Ashley and Jack to call a real truce in their feud to help him. Who knows, it could also be the catalyst to reunite Billy and Victoria.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
