The Young and the Restless (Y&R) recap and spoilers for Thursday, January 18 note another dramatic day in Genoa City! The show opens with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Diane Abbott (Susan Walters). Jack has something on his mind, and he wants to be transparent with his wife. He notes he has a friend who needs help and implies it’s a woman who’s a recovering addict.
Jack goes on to tell Diane that he was once addicted to painkillers during a time when they were apart. He initially needed them due to complications after his gunshot wound, but eventually relied on them during his “dark time”.
He states that Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) knew, and his efforts, along with the support of Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) were what got him clean. Jack ends up telling Diane it’s Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) who needs his help.
She’s back on the bottle, and to boot, her AA sponsor has fallen off the wagon. While Diane isn’t overly pleased that Jack wants to help Nikki, considering their history, she does give her blessing for Jack to move forward.
The fact that he wants to help out an old friend makes her love him even more.
Over at Newman Media, Nikki’s AA sponsor Seth (Brian Gaskill) is nervously waiting in her office. He gets up and starts sifting through her desk, just as she walks in.
He apologizes for crossing a line, but he states he was doing so to ensure she didn’t have any alcohol hidden anywhere.
Nikki doesn’t buy what he is selling and accuses him of relapsing. He denies it at first, but she states she “sees” all the signs. Scrambling, he comes up with the idea that the two can be friends and help each other.
Nikki declines the offer and encourages him to go to a meeting, reach out to his own sponsor, and get help. She makes it clear that her sobriety is fragile and can’t be around him.
He begs her to reconsider because he needs a friend. Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) accidentally walks in on them, as Nikki stands her ground for Seth to leave, and he does so.
Audra hesitantly asks Nikki if everything is okay. It may not be any of her business, but Audra is genuinely concerned.
Nikki and Audra have a bonding moment, as the Newman Media boss tells her subordinate that Seth was her AA sponsor who has relapsed, and she feels guilty for refusing to help him.
She also acknowledges the story Audra told her about her dad the other day was helpful. Audra offers Nikki any kind of support at Newman Media she may need. Shortly after, Nikki gets an ominous text, asking her to meet up.
The mystery person ends up being Jack, as Nikki is shown later on at the Abbott mansion. He acknowledges he knows about her falling off the wagon, which he learned from Lauren.
Nikkis states that she understands her friend was worried, and that’s why she told him. He makes a vow to become her support system, 24/7. Nikki refuses, but Jack insists.
Nikki questions why he cares so much, and Jack relents that Nikki started drinking while they were married. Back then, he handled it poorly, and his guilt around all this increased over the years after his own battle with addiction.
He wants to make things right by helping her now, and she seemingly accepts the help. Later, when she’s back at her Newman Media office, she calls Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman) telling her they need to talk.
Meanwhile at Society, Kyle runs into Tucker McCall (Trevor St. John). The two men banter back and forth and talk about Kyle punching Tucker the other day in Audra’s hotel room.
When they sit down at a table, Tucker antagonizes Kyle by complimenting him on his family loyalty. He points out that he knew Kyle was going to remain dedicated to the Abbotts, and all his plan was about was to whip the family into a frenzy, hoping they would turn on each other.
Things turn dark though, when Kyle mentions that Tucker doesn’t have that same family dedication, as his own son isn’t talking to him anymore. The only person he has any loyalty to is Audra, but even that is twisted.
Tucker plays it cool but digs, there was a part of Kyle that was “all in” about aligning with him to screw over his family for that CEO job. Tucker walks away from the table by stating, “I’m still coming for you”.
Tucker ends up at the GCAC bar when Audra strolls in and finds a table. He joins her and apologizes; however, she makes it clear that she is cutting ties to distance herself from his toxicity.
Tucker accepts that and guesses the two will only talk business, but she doesn’t want to partake in that with him, either.
Audra notes probably the biggest reason she no longer wants anything to do with him is because he won’t let go of Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson).
Audra feels that Ashley clouds his judgment, which is why the entire plan he had against the Abbotts failed. Tucker asks if he shouldn’t be with Ashley, then who he should be with, with a smug smile.
Audra replies that she still has enough self-respect to not say her name and that his ultimate fate might be that he ends up alone.
Back to Kyle, he’s joined at Society by his mom. The two talk about how Billy Abbott’s (Jason Thompson) CEO spot still needs to be filled, and Kyle notes he doesn’t want it anymore.
He’s enjoying where he is at the company, and his dad was right, he needs a lesson in humility. Kyle states he was so close to turning on his own family due to ego, obviously affected by Tucker’s previous remark.
Kyle believes Diane should be the CEO. Diane rejects that idea wholeheartedly and says her dream is for Jack and Kyle to run Jabot.
Jack ends up joining them and is ready to tell them some big news: he’s chosen his CEO candidate. Thinking he’s going to name him Jabot CEO, Kyle interjects and says he’s happy with where he’s at and nominates his mom for the job.
Jack replies with a remark that “great minds think alike”, and announces he was thinking the very same thing.
Diane and Jack laugh about it all, while the camera pans on Kyle’s face, visibly disappointed with this new development.
Young and the Restless spoilers imply the drama between the Abbotts is far from over and fans should expect some dissension at Jabot when Diane is officially named the company’s CEO.
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