Cult Baby Drama on 'The Young and the Restless' falls flat

      Melody Thomas Scott and Steve Burton

In case you haven't heard, kind-hearted Dylan McAvoy (Steve Burton) is Nikki's (Melody Thomas Scott) son on The Young and the Restless. This is a story that has been progressively building up since September, and the only word that comes to mind is underwhelming. The reveal was underwhelming, the outcome was underwhelming, the aftermath has been underwhelming. Head writer drama aside, this story has been really poorly written. 

Of course, this storyline is a retcon. Nikki was in a cult with Paul Williams (Doug Davidson) decades ago, and know they've rewritten that to say that Nikki had a child with the cult leader, Ian Ward. You'd think that this news would've been revealed in a bombshell, right? Wrong. Nikki revealed this to Paul while sitting on a park bench. No dramatic music, just regular dialogue. I was bored. Then, Nikki and Paul are thrust into a search for Nikki's son, which I'll admit was fun seeing them together given their history. But then we see Nikki strangely leering around Dylan and his friend Stitch (Sean Carrigan, the red-herring in this story). So obviously we know that one of them will be her son. The next day, Nikki approaches Dylan holding back her tears, then she rushes to talk to her late best friend Katherine, revealing Dylan is her son. Again, no dramatic music, just regular dialogue. 

After a month and a half of Nikki keeping her secret to herself (except for Paul), she prepares to tell all at a family dinner, but her other son Nick (Joshua Morrow) notices Dylan walk into the restaurant and picks a fight with him. Nikki blurts out Dylan is her son, causing major confusion. Dylan is in denial, Victor (Eric Braeden) is confused, Nick becomes distant and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) is accepting of all of it. Say what?! Victor semi-accepting it is reasonable, after all the crap he's pulled over the years, but Victoria didn't seem to have any problem with it at all. I was expecting everyone to be distant for awhile, but that didn't really happen except for Nick. Dylan demands a DNA test, which proves Nikki is his mother.

And now, he and Avery (Jessica Collins) are searching for information on his biological father, Ian Ward. Not only that, veteran television actor Ray Wise has been cast in the role and debuts January 23. I'm hoping Ward's arrival in town will spice up this storyline. Maybe they'll surprise us and do an old school villain storyline! It would certainly make up for some of the crappy writing this story has endured. Catch The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS.