Here is your The Young and the Restless recap for Friday, April 24, 2026 featuring Phyllis facing her worst nightmare, and Matt Clark’s plan coming into focus.
What happened on The Young and the Restless
Phyllis completely lost it… on herself. She ranted at her portrait, almost paranoid that it was looking at her the wrong way. Seeing Victoria and Christine in cahoots had her anxiety at an all-time high, and she wasn’t sure what they were plotting.
Victoria and Victor stopped by the office, and they laughed at Phyllis talking negatively to her self-portrait. Her first instinct was to throw them out of her office, but Victoria brought up a deal that could save Phyllis from any potential future trouble.
Victor had reneged on multiple offers to give Phyllis what she wanted, so she wasn’t interested in anything either of them had to say. Threatening Phyllis wasn’t going to be an effective tactic, but Christine’s potential to become the new DA changed everything. Cricket would love nothing more than to lock Phyllis in a jail cell for any length of time.
It wasn’t long before the pair dropped the bombshell that Christine had accepted the job and would step into the role the following day. The entire thing looked like a well-crafted plot to put a specific person in power who could be laser-focused on making Phyllis’ life miserable.
Victoria touted evidence against Phyllis, including proof that she, Cane, and Billy conspired to steal Newman from Victor. However, Phyllis wasn’t convinced that their fabricated evidence would be enough to take her down. She needed to see the proof with her own eyes, which Victoria happily handed over.
Even if it was all false, as Phyllis claimed, with Christine leading the charge, it felt like a battle she couldn’t win. Phyllis threatened the idea of fighting fire with fire. She floated the option of bringing up Victor’s part in Jack’s kidnapping as a means to squash their attempt to coerce her.
Phyllis dared Victor to take his fake evidence to Christine because she wasn’t afraid. Victoria brought up Summer and Daniel’s disgust for their mother, and that definitely struck a nerve. She went as far as to fly to Milan to turn Summer against her. She was willing to destroy that relationship to get Newman back for Daddy.
Phyllis called Lauren over after Victoria and Victor left, and she gave her the full rundown about their threats. She felt powerless over their moves, and she was at the mercy of the mustache. Everything was closing in around her, but Lauren wasn’t willing to walk away without putting up a fight.
In any other circumstance, the DA’s office would probably choose not to take on the case. However, Christine’s new appointment to the position was the worst possible scenario for Phyllis. Michael arrived and told Phyllis that even if other documents were forged, the AI program was used to steal the company.
Beyond that, Cane and Billy would be dragged into it, and they had no reason to protect Phyllis. After how she’d backstabbed both, there was no reason not to cut a deal with Christine. Phyllis’s time at the top of Genoa City’s corporate ladder looked to be heading toward a crash course down to Earth.
Riza names her price
The Newmans offered to give Riza $500,000 for her help, provided that she knew where Matt was and what his plans were. Adam vowed that he didn’t mean to deceive Riza, but she was on the fence about helping him. He did his best job to convince her that he felt their previous connection and that his family couldn’t stop Matt without her cooperation.
Riza was Adam’s best bet to put an end to Matt’s reign of terror, and he had no choice but to go all in on her assistance. She wasn’t ready to divulge anything without a guarantee of payment. The more Riza danced around the truth and begged for the money, the more incensed Nick became. If nothing else, Nick was passionate about protecting his family, and in the state he was in, being Riza wasn’t enviable. Nick looked ready to snap at a moment’s notice.
The clock was ticking, and Riza was gambling with Noah and Sharon’s lives for some extra cash in her pocket. There was a price on their freedom, and it was a hefty price to pay for information that might not aid in their rescue.
Riza finally pulled through, and although Matt told her what to tell them about his location, she wasn’t going to share it with them at first. It wasn’t about the money.
According to Riza, she was convinced that Matt was luring everyone into a trap, and despite his betrayal, she didn’t want to see Spider get squashed by Matt. She handed Adam a gun to take as a safety measure against whatever Matt had planned. Chelsea nearly lost it at the idea of Spider potentially emerging once again, but Adam insisted that he needed to be armed to handle Matt.
On the drive to rescue Noah and Sharon, Nick completely devolved. The drugs started to wear off, and Adam called out Nick’s behavior. He was a total mess, and Adam realized Matt drugging his brother was far from the first time he had used.
Matt’s deadly game
Matt toyed with Noah and Sharon, expertly luring him into his trap. Like his hothead father, Noah tried to get the jump on Matt, but the sudden emergence of a gun pointed at him put a stop to that. It looked like there was no way out for Noah and Sharon. The middle of nowhere had become their entrance into hell.
Matt was confident that Nick and Adam would soon join them. For now, though, they’d be forced to do whatever the madman with the gun told them to do. This was Matt’s playground, and they were just horses on his carousel of chaos.
Matt was surprised and somewhat annoyed that Noah left Sienna in Genoa City. She was on his revenge list, and having her left behind would mean his hit list would extend beyond the outskirts of Sin City. Noah did his best to convince Matt to walk away and let them free, but revenge was far too sweet to give up now.
Riza called Matt and lied to him about Nick and Adam’s current whereabouts. She claimed that they didn’t believe her, so they left for Genoa City, and Matt was completely thrown off his game, not knowing what to think. Matt was losing control of his master plan, and as Phyllis learned from Victor and Victoria, he realized it was impossible to outsmart a Newman.
