Kyle has always been a whiny brat perpetually on the edge of a temper tantrum on The Young and the Restless. Still, his behavior towards Diane and Summer on the Monday, May 20 episode was particularly rotten. Sure, Summer did an about-face on the Tuesday, May 28 episode and agreed to a trial with Claire, but it certainly wasn’t due to Kyle’s actions. He may think it’s all just business as usual, but the couch is waiting to dig deep and reveal why Kyle is really acting up.
Birth Mother
Diane (Susan Walters) left Kyle (Michael Mealor) for over a decade while he was growing up. Worse, she let him think she was dead. When she returned to Genoa City, alive and well, Kyle had every right to be furious with her.
But that role was being filled by Jack (Peter Bergman) and, for some reason, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), Ashley (Eileen Davidson), and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). So Kyle had to step into the part of Diane’s defender and, after a few days of scrunching up his brow in deep thought, decided that he forgave his mommy and now just wanted to pick up where they’d left off.
Reverse Setting
But now that Jack is madly in love with Diane again, and Nikki, Ashley, and Phyllis have bigger problems, Kyle is forced to deal with the anger he previously repressed. Years after her return, Kyle is finally allowing himself to feel just how furious he is with his mom for abandoning him. Which is deserved. And healthy. Except, instead of dealing with his true feelings, Kyle is channeling them into undermining Diane at work. Which makes no sense. And is definitely not the path to ideal mental health.
Sideways
And because Kyle can’t admit that he is angry at Diane for her terrible mothering, he is taking those feelings out on Summer (Allison Lanier) by making it clear that he will be making all decisions where Harrison (Redding Munsell) is concerned. This is Kyle’s way of telling Summer she’s a bad mother.
Kyle can’t be as mean to Diane as he wants because his Daddy will get mad. But he can commit co-parenting no-nos like telling Harrison that Claire (Hayley Erin) will be his nanny over Summer’s wishes — but right in front of her. He is being rotten to her, too. And she’s not even the one he’s mad at.
We’re not so sure that Kyle deserves Summer’s change of heart, but at least she ended up trying to figure out what was right for Harrison despite her ex’s bad behavior. Hopefully, Claire is able to rise to the challenge, and Summer won’t be right to have been so wary of her.