Diane and Billy may not be seeing eye to eye on the redo of the Abbott mansion on The Young and the Restless. However, their respective portrayers, Susan Walters and Jason Thompson, have one thing in common: They both captivated us with their performances this week, earning joint honors for the show's Performers of the Week.
Difference of opinion on The Young and the Restless
If you thought Billy would have an indifferent reaction to the redo of the Abbott mansion because he never really lived there much, well, you'd be wrong. While Jack and Kyle (and, off-screen, via photos, Ashley and Traci) are all on board with Diane's changes, Billy is...not.
His quiet and cordial negativity hit Diane like a ton of bricks. Asked to elaborate (and, in fairness to Billy, he was asked), the Abbott heir revealed he felt his late father John had been removed in some way. These scenes between Walters and Thompson weren't especially combative, but they were heavy.
Diane gently probed Billy as to why he felt the way he did, without trying to sound like she was hurt. Walters played Diane's shock and genuine interest beautifully. Either the show's director (or the actors themselves) opted to have Billy and Diane sit and stand far away from one another to emphasize the emotional chasm between the two. Thompson also chose to have Billy, at times, avoid eye contact with Diane. There's no better way to freeze someone out than not to look at them.
Diane was as positive as she could be around Billy, but she later unloaded emotionally to Jack because she felt safe with him. Jack was fully aware that Diane had done her best and delivered a terrific product.
All Diane needs is love
Walters initially played Diane as being hesitant to tell Jack about Billy's reaction to the redecorating. Clearly, she was hurt, and she didn't want that to spill over into Jack and Billy's dynamic. Walters had Diane cut open a vein as she suggested to Jack that maybe Billy's problem wasn't with the house but with her.
The actress brought Diane's insecurities to the surface by theorizing that Billy might not have had a problem with the house had someone else redone it. Walters is a savvy performer who knows it can be more compelling to watch someone try not to cry rather than to shed some tears.
When Jack and Diane moved from the dining room to the living room, she began opening up even more. Jack tried to get to the root of Diane's uneasiness. "I don't want to feel like family, I want to be family," she said. "I want to be automatically included. I want to be as much of an Abbott as our son is."
Diane has had a front row seat to the Abbott clan closeness for a while on The Young and the Restless. She broke down in tears, saying that what Jack has with his siblings is so rare. Diane put herself in Billy's shoes. Perhaps she had changed so much in the Abbott home out of envy.
"I wasn't trying to take anything away," said Diane, admitting she had tried to "bribe" her way into the Abbott family. While it was an interesting choice to withhold the tears earlier, Walters let them flow as Diane trembled in Jack's arms.
Walters showed incredible vulnerability in these scenes. The redo of the Abbott mansion wasn't just a task. It was part of a journey in her being accepted into the Abbott clan.
Billy stays strong
Meanwhile on The Young and the Restless, Billy had a less sympathetic scene partner to play opposite than his sister-in-law did with Jack. Billy was minding his own business at the Genoa City Athletic Club when Victor, who was also there, began needling him.
"You spend an awful lot of time hating people you have no reason to hate," Billy calmly spat back at Victor after he made a dig at Sally.
Billy deflected Victor's animosity towards him by pointing out that Victor appears to arbitrarily decide who should be together and who shouldn't. He firmly noted to the mogul that he's the father of his grandchildren, and despite this, he has an obsession with tearing him down.
Stand and deliver
"Why is that?" Bill mused as he subtly put Victor on the defense. Thompson chose to stand when he delivered that line, showing he was in a strong position. Billy pushed Victor, wanting to know "man to man" what caused this wrath.
"How about man to boy?" Victor offered. The more Billy tried to reason with Victor, the more Victor pushed back. Thompson never wavered as an almost stoic Billy confronted Victor. The mogul also refused to give him an inch. Thompson let each hurtful remark from Victor pass through Billy as he continued to try to reach his former father-in-law.
Victor changed the subject in an attempt to rattle Billy by asking him what was going on with Aristotle Dumas, the man who's often mentioned but never seen. Thompson had Billy keep his poker face on, refusing to fall into Victor's trap.
Poking the bear
Victor quietly threatened Billy by telling him he needed to come clean on Dumas. It's maybe not always wise to roll one's eyes at the great Victor Newman, but Thompson made the choice to have Billy subtly contort his face in a semi-comical way as if to comment on Victor's audacity.
The two men were in the middle of a restaurant. It would have been easy to have Thompson make the choice to show that Victor was getting under Billy's skin by yelling at him, but then he would have lost the battle. Instead, Thompson played Billy as someone who wasn't going to let Victor get the best of him.
Bravo to Walters for showing such vulnerability and to Thompson for showing great strength in their respective scenes this week on The Young and the Restless.
Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.
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