For months now on The Young and the Restless, Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Summer (Allison Lanier) have found themselves in a state of limbo. Although the pair are separated, they are still legally married and haven’t made moves to either go through with a divorce or take steps toward a reconciliation. That is, until the episode scheduled for August 23.
In the episode, Summer approaches Kyle at the Genoa City Atletic Club and informs her husband that she is ready to move past the uncertainty and officially divorce him. The news seems to catch Kyle off guard, who admits he assumed he’d be the one to initiate that proceeding. As the two discuss the ins and outs of their pending divorce and how co-parenting Harrison (Kellen Enriquez) plays into all of this, they’re interrupted by Nick (Joshua Morrow).
When Summer’s dad speaks to Kyle one-on-one, the Abbott heir becomes adamant that he can’t possibly save his marriage because he’s still hurt that Summer lied to him about Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) being alive. Kyle feels had the truth not come out about Phyllis, his mother could have been still behind bars. Summer’s betrayal has made him see her differently and he believes she’s more like Phyllis than he thought, which is not a compliment.
Adding to this, Kyle is tired of the continued animosity between Phyllis and Diane (Susan Walters) and doesn’t want to deal with that dynamic anymore for his sake or Harrison’s.
Having laid his cards before Nick, the only thing left was for Kyle to meet with Summer and agree with her that a divorce is indeed necessary — which he does. To her credit, Summer apologizes for her part in the marriage ending. That prompts Kyle to do the same.
But are they over for good?
Considering this is The Young and the Restless, and the two have a history of breaking up and getting back together, we’d say no. We actually think Kyle will regret his decision not to try and work on his marriage sooner rather than later.
At the end of August 23’s episode, he appears rather defeated after his discussion with Summer and even declines an invitation from Audra (Zuleyka Silver) to stop by her place.
Our guess, Kyle will soon realize that Audra is not the ideal romantic partner for him. He claimed not to like the fact that Summer lied to him in their marriage, and Audura so far has proved she’s willing to lie to people and manipulate situations to get whatever it is she wants.
Recently, she lied to him about the McCall cover-up scandal, and he said he wasn’t bothered then. However, he’d probably become bothered if he notices that Audra has a pattern of hiding the truth.
Plus, Diane doesn’t seem to be a fan of Audra and even warned Kyle that while he is indulging in this fling, deep down, he still loves Summer.
So if Kyle does eventually come to realize that he wants Summer, will it be too late to win her back?
With Summer and Chance (Connor Floyd) increasingly spending more time together as friends, we’re under the impression that Summer will quickly find herself falling in love with the Chancellor heir. If #Chummer becomes an official romance in Genoa City, Kyle will have some stiff competition in a quest to win Summer back. She may find the grass is really greener on the other side (temporarily at least, again, this is a soap).
On a final note, for all those worried about Sharon (Sharon Case) and Chance and their relationship, we’ll admit, we don’t see that lasting for the long haul. There are too many signs that Sharon and Nick may be destined to reunite.
Brand-new episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
