For a while now, The Young and the Restless has been missing a loud, boisterous and slightly dramatic presence, and in the episode airing on November 22, this presence known as Gloria (Judith Chapman) returns.
The last viewers heard, Gloria was locked away in a Singapore prison and Michael (Christian LeBlanc) had to leave Genoa City to go rescue her. We assumed it was a big emergency, as Michael left while in the middle of defending Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) who was knee-deep in a legal situation of her own having faked her death and killed Jeremy Stark (James Hyde).
So what kind of international trouble did the Baldwin/Fisher matriarch find herself in this time?
Well in the episode, Michael escorts his mother into Society where he meets Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman), Kevin (Greg Rikaart) and Chloe (Elizabeth Hendrickson) for a Thanksgiving dinner. Gloria appears a bit drunk and is as over-the-top as ever. While her family has questions about where she’s been and what exactly happened in Singapore, she doesn’t go into any details, and Michael suggests they discuss Gloria’s ordeal after dinner.
Fast forward to the family wrapping up their meal, and Gloria is pressed to finally reveal the truth, and she takes the longest route possible in revealing what everyone wants to know. She hems and haws about her trying ordeal in a Singapore prison and claims it was a case of "mistaken identity." Michael quickly rebuts that notion and says Gloria was indeed guilty of the crime she was charged with.
Gloria then plainly tells the story of how she was involved in an affair with a diplomat. Unfortunately for her, the diplomat’s wife came home and caught Gloria with her husband. Immediately, the wife hurled insults at Gloria and ordered her out of the house.
Then as Gloria went to gather her things, she opted to take a detour into the wife’s closet and stole "three pairs of designer shoes" and a cocktail dress. Gloria was later arrested for theft. In a twist of irony, it was actually the diplomat she was having an affair with who called the authorities and pressed charges.
Thanks to Michael’s legal skills in international waters, he was able to get his mother out of jail without facing any real consequences.
Now that Gloria is back in Genoa City, we can only assume she’ll once again stir up her own unique brand of trouble. Will she go back and attempt to work at Jabot and annoy the Abbotts in the process? Or will she attempt to get a job at Society? We couldn’t help but notice Gloria compared Abby’s (Melissa Ordway) establishment to her once-booming night club Gloworm, so perhaps Gloria will look to get back into that industry. Either way, her future story arc may prove to be a slightly comical break from the very dramatic saga of Claire (Hayley Erin) and the Newmans.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
