Credit: CBS screenshot, Howard Wise/JPI

Young & Restless delivered some decent drama this week thanks to Jack and Diane’s split and Sharon framing Daniel, but there was still a lot of sleeping pills amongst the offerings. Keep reading this to the end for a reminder of how it used to be, and who we wish it could be again. But first, a look at what happened and what’s coming up.

Little Ditty About Jack and Diane

Jack and Diane are really selling this split, so we can’t rule out the possibility that it’s not a fake out. However, there are plenty of clues that suggest the highly publicized break up is an elaborate farce designed to scare Kyle straight and beat Victor at his own game. Such as Diane going directly to Victor and Nikki to announce the end of her marriage. She was clearly trying to get the Black Knight to switch lanes by suggesting that Kyle failing would be a knife to Jack’s heart. Should Victor fall for it, Jack and Diane’s ruse would be successful on two fronts. First, Victor would set up Kyle to fail, thus severing their connection and sending him back to his family, and second, Victor would lose interest in attempting to use Glissade to beat Jabot, believing he’s doing something even more devastating to his rival.

This speculation leads me to question how far Jack and Diane will take their scheme to make it believable. Based on the preview for next week, with Nikki worrying about Jack’s sobriety, it’s obvious that Ol’ Smilin’ will pretend to fall off the wagon. Nikki will report back to Victor, who will be convinced that his rival’s life is truly in ruins and that Diane’s desire to plot against her husband is on the level.

With all of that said, it’s an unwritten rule on Young & Restless that Victor is ten steps ahead of everyone else, so can they really expect to pull this off? Maybe it will all come to a head at Abby and Devon’s wedding. Something has to go down at that event because it’s a yawn waiting to happen at this point.

More: Eric Braeden moved to tears over upcoming reveal

The Unthinkable is Coming to Pass

Let me start by saying that the Sharon/Daniel storyline is moving at just the right pace. The tease that Sharon might unravel and confess after Daniel’s visit was a perfect beat to play. The con to this story is that it requires Chance to be the dumbed down cop who can’t see the forest for the trees. Any amateur detective could see that Daniel is being framed. Please! You can’t even blame Phyllis for her exasperation.

Speaking of Phyllis, the last person on planet Earth she’d ever want to team up with is Christine ‘Cricket’ Blair — it’s unthinkable — but that’s exactly what’s going to have to happen if they’re going to help Daniel out of this mess. If you watch the preview for next week closely, you’ll see that realization dawning in Red’s eyes when Christine comes barreling into the Club and announces she’s there to represent Daniel. The icing on the cake? An unhinged Sharon is going to be gunning for Phyllis at the same time she’s trying to navigate life with the Bug as her new sidekick. Now that’s a juicy plot.

But there’s more. Phyllis has another unlikely ally… and we never thought we’d see the day these two would be on the same side either!

Bits ‘n’ Bites

I got a kick out of Lily telling Nikki she wouldn’t be able to run Chancellor on her own like she could… I’m intrigued to find out what Amy Lewis wants with Nate. My hunch? He has a half-sibling and there’s something they want to ask of him… Overall, the show remains lacking in big drama and too often gets dragged down into the mundane. Here’s a flashback to the days when it never would have entered our minds to hit the fast-forward button. ‘Epic’ indeed!

The opinions expressed are my own. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s Young & Restless in the comments.