When it comes to The Young and the Restless’ Billy (Jason Thompson) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), they’re like moths attracted to a flame… a troubled flame.
While both are experts in scheming and plotting, each of them also tends to be impulsive, rash and incapable of thinking about the broader fallout of their bad decisions. Their character flaws are partially why we tend to think their pending partnership to take down Victor (Eric Braeden) won’t end well. We also realize that Victor is a masterful tactician who may lose battles but seldom loses wars.
But let's say we’re wrong, and Billy and Phyllis don’t let their worst impulses become a problem as they strategize against The Mustache. Even if that proves to be the case, there are a few folks in Genoa City who could still derail their plans. For starters, there’s Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Ian (Ray Wise), who are up to their own shenanigans of the villainous variety. They want to frame Phyllis for Sharon’s (Sharon Case) murder (although she’s not dead yet thanks to Jordan), and we imagine if successful, Phyllis in a prison jumper would have bigger fish to fry than Victor.
There’s also the very small chance that Billy stops to think about Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and his children. No matter how you dice it, Billy’s ex and his children are bound to be impacted if he goes down this vengeful path. Those close to him have tried to tell him that, but he’s so far been adamant that everything will be fine. Could he eventually have a change of heart?
While Jordan, Ian and Billy himself are certainly good guesses as to who we are talking about when we say Billy and Phyllis’ partnership will be ruined by a person, the three candidates aren’t exactly who we have in mind. We actually think the dubious individual in question will be Phyllis.
There’s an old adage that you “don’t mix business with pleasure,” and given all the hints lately about Phyllis’ resurfacing feelings about Billy, romance between the two may soon become a problem.
To be clear, it looks like Phyllis may be the one to blur the lines between them first. As Daniel (Michael Graziadei) was grieving the loss of Heather (Vail Bloom) and was subsequently blamed for her murder, Phyllis relied heavily on Billy’s friendship. And while she appreciated their time together, she was dismayed to see him whenever he linked up with his then-friend Sally (Courtney Hope).
Fast forward to today, and now that Billy and Sally are firmly a couple, Phyllis is far from their biggest cheerleader. She’s not above whispering disparaging remarks about Sally to Billy and hurling shady comments at Sally whenever the two women are in the same room. Although Phyllis’ initial misgivings about her stem from Sally plotting against Summer years ago, Summer and Sally are on great terms these days. This leads us to suspect that Phyllis’ continued hostilities toward Sally are rooted in jealousy.
It may not be obvious to Phyllis yet, but she’s falling for Billy again. He’s in love with Sally, so he may not notice Phyllis’ growing feelings either, but we suspect that will change in the coming weeks. Once that happens, it’s possible that he tells Phyllis in no uncertain terms that he’s committed to his girlfriend.
Loyal Young and the Restless fans know Phyllis doesn’t deal well with rejection and can be manipulative to get what she wants. She might come up with little ruses to come in between Billy and Sally, while also finding herself in close moments with Billy in hopes he remembers why they are a good pairing.
If Billy and Phyllis become distracted by romance issues, that doesn’t bode well for their takedown plans for Victor. To deliver a loss to the Newman patriarch, you’ve got to be laser-focused as he’s come across big-time foes in his lifetime and eventually defeated them all. Could their distraction come at the wrong time and unravel things for them?
We can also picture Phyllis feeling rejected by Billy if he doesn’t return her advances, and her pretending that everything between them is fine. Meanwhile, she plots to continue working with Billy just long enough to wrestle Chancellor away from Victor, then when the moment strikes, rids Billy of Chancellor and keeps it for herself and Daniel. (But again, the probability of Victor losing the company isn't high in our book.)
At the moment, these are largely theories we have about the destruction of a #Philly collaboration, but ones we have to consider given the history of the characters at play here.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Paramount Plus.
