When it comes to The Young and the Restless’ Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), Sharon (Sharon Case) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), the three have never been besties let alone friends.
Phyllis and Sharon are bitter rivals, spending decades in a chaotic love triangle with Nick (Joshua Morrow). Plus, when you add the facts that Sharon once hid the that Nick is Summer’s (Allison Lanier) father, Sharon attempted to frame Daniel (Michael Graziadei) for Heather’s (Vail Bloom) murder and Daniel was involved in the car accident that killed Cassie (Camryn Grimes), you come to realize that there is some seriously bad blood between the two women.
For Victoria’s part, she’s never really cared for Phyllis or Sharon to be with her brother Nick. Plus, both women have made their fair share of attacks on the Newman family over the years which Victoria hasn't appreciated. Oh, and then there's the issue of both women having dated Victoria’s on-again-off-again ex, Billy (Jason Thompson). Now we wouldn’t say Victoria is a rival of Phyllis or Sharon, but rather she doesn’t seek out their friendship and only keeps things cordial as the ladies are the mothers of her nieces and nephew. (It’s worth noting that Victoria has definitely been friendlier with Sharon in recent years.)
Having said all of that, Phyllis, Sharon and Victoria aren’t usually collaborators, but they may soon find themselves partnering thanks to Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Ian (Ray Wise). The trio haven’t done that since they worked alongside Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) to cover up what they thought was the murder of J.T. (Thad Luckinbill). While the cover-up collaboration ended in disaster, we have a feeling if the three ladies have to work together again thanks to Jordan and Ian, they’ll prove more successful as their daughters’ lives may depend on it.
As longtime fans know, Ian has a twisted history with both Mariah (Camryn Grimes) and Summer. After she was stolen as a baby, Ian pretty much raised and manipulated Mariah into adulthood as her father figure. Then once she came to realize the kind of man he is, she turned on him and he forced her into a twisted marriage after drugging her (the marriage didn’t last long). Since those dark times, Sharon and Mariah have built quite the mother/daughter bond.
Ian also once posed as a life coach and attempted to mentor Summer as a way to get under Nikki’s skin and blackmail her. He once manipulated Nikki in her younger days and hoped to still have power over the Newman matriarch. All was revealed to Summer and his plot failed.
Because they’re familiar targets, it’s not hard to imagine that Ian may want to go after Mariah and Summer again. He has a clear obsession with Mariah, and while his interactions with Summer didn’t last nearly as long, with Phyllis starting to get her memory back about what happened the night of her car crash, Ian could go after Summer as a way to get Phyllis to remain quiet.
Then there’s Claire (Hayley Erin). She too was raised by a manipulative and vindictive person, and this time we mean Jordan. The newer soap villain kidnapped Claire from the hospital shortly after Victoria gave birth, and let Victoria and Cole (J. Eddie Peck) grieve. As Jordan raised Claire, she taught her to hate the Newmans, and that led to the duo torturing Nikki and the family.
Fast forward to the present, and Claire has rejected Jordan and has become a full-fledged member of the Newman family. Additionally, she’s in a happy relationship with Kyle (Michael Mealor) and is now working with Nikki at Chancellor. We suspect Jordan is seething that her great-niece has turned her back on her, and is plotting to torch Claire’s new life, while also perhaps winning back Claire’s allegiance.
So if Mariah, Summer and Claire all find themselves in trouble, their mothers may need to put their differences aside to rescue them. Between Phyllis’ savvy tech skills, Victoria’s resources and Sharon’s knowledge of the human psyche, the women may prove to be quite the formidable force to save their daughters. In fact, they may be more useful than Chance (Conner Floyd) and the Genoa City Police.
This is all a running theory we have at this point, but don’t you think it would be rather intriguing to see such a development take place?
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.