'The Young and the Restless' November preview: Will things get better, or worse?

The Young and the Restless certainly has some heated storylines coming up this November. Say what you will about Nikki Newman, and let's admit, we've all said a lot, but did you ever think she would've had a son with a cult leader and tell no one for over thirty years? I know, it's a soap, and usually anything is possible, but I've found this rewrite severely underwhelming. There was no big reveal that Dylan was Nikki's son, because let's face it, rumours had been circulating for months and we all kind of figured it would happen (thanks for that, Jill Farren Phelps.) The thing that always gets me about Nikki, the stripper turned socialite, is that despite the great and powerful Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) being "the love of her life", she's never had the confidence to spill her guts about anything to her beloved hubby. Just this past February when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), she didn't want to tell The Mustache, but easily opened up to ex-hubby and once her best friend, Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman). And now, she is still extremely hesitant to tell Victor that she has another son with a cult leader. What gives?

Nick and Sharon will also grow closer this November. But, as we all know, Sharon holds a deep, dark secret (that someone behind the scenes at Y&R decided to use her as the scapegoat of Genoa City and make her switch Summer Newman's paternity test.) Sources also say that she will work on becoming healthier and stabilized. So basically, they're saying that Sharon will get herself all better, say goodbye to her awful hallucination of a daughter (Cassie), and perhaps, even get back together high school sweetheart Nick. But are we supposed to just forget about the paternity test alteration, like it was nothing? She was messing with people's lives! Summer has since grown close to her biological "dad" Jack (not to mention their amazing father/daughter chemistry); will that be blown up by Sharon's little mistake? Not to mention that there is absolutely no mention of Genoa City finding out Sharon was present when Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) fell down those stairs and somehow sustained brain damage (still hard to get through saying that without bursting out in laughter, as Phyllis didn't even bump her head.) So this may sound good to you, but are we just expected to forget all of Sharon's escapades while off her bipolar meds? Again, what gives?

In terms of business storylines, which this show is iconic for, we might actually have something to look forward to. Sources say that Jack and Jill (Jess Walton) will be interacting with business concerns, along with Victor. To me, this sounds to good to be true. Of this writing regime's many faults, they certainly did not know how to write a good business storyline. All of the show's previous writing regimes, however, knew how to kick ass with a good business storyline. But alas, since Josh Griffith is finally gone, we may be pleasantly surprised with how new head writers Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante chose to entertain us. 

Also on the business front, it looks as if the new writers are looking to rebuild Hilary Curtis (Mishael Morgan). Morgan, who joined the series in June, is a soap opera newbie, but plays the bad girl role surprisingly well. But let's just say she deserves better material. Griffith's mess of an introduction for her was really hard to follow. First, there is a mysterious blogger and photographer stalking the Winters family. Then, Neil (Kristoff St. John) remembers meeting some woman at a bar in 2007. This woman, Rose Turner (Leslie Stevens), also happens to be the mystery woman of Gus Rogan (Tony Todd), the late father of Leslie and Tyler (Angell Conwell and Redaric Williams). Still with me? Okay, now all of a sudden, Hilary is supposedly Rose's daughter Ann, who wants to get back at Neil for "killing" her mother (she passed out drunk that night and died), and is targeting Neil's daughter Lily (Christel Khalil) and her husband Cane (Daniel Goddard). Like I said, mess of a story. The character has a lot of potential in many areas, and I'm hoping these writers will rebuild her and take advantage of it.

After all that, there is one story that has been my personal favorite these past few months: the Baldwin family struggles. The only thing now is it's been almost a month since Carmine (Marco Dapper) died, and we still don't know who really shot him in that alley. Fen (Max Ehrich) thinks he did it, but admits to being high on drugs and doesn't remember clearly. All the actors say a "big twist" is coming. In all honesty, I don't really have any more patience for a big twist. Carmine tortured the Baldwins for months, and now that he's finally gone, we still have to deal with him from beyond the grave. Just tell us who killed him already! This storyline needs to be drawn to a close soon, so maybe, just maybe, the Baldwins might be rewarded with some sort of happy story. Sound possible? We can only hope. Watch The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS.