Y&R’s Lauren Fenmore and Michael Baldwin Are Finally Showing Up for Phyllis Summers, But Is It Too Little Too Late?

PHYLLIS SUMMERS HAS BEEN BUILDING SOMETHING, AND LAUREN FENMORE AND MICHAEL BALDWIN JUST WALKED IN

TL;DR: Phyllis Summers creatively acquired Summers Conglomerate, watched her children walk, and kept building anyway on The Young and the Restless. Now Lauren Fenmore and Michael Baldwin are showing up. Lauren putting Daniel Romalotti in his place was fabulous. Michael has one foot in Phyllis Summers’ camp and one foot in Victor Newman’s office. The question Genoa City cannot stop asking is whether any of this is too little too late.

Let Us Start With What Phyllis Built While Nobody Was Watching

Phyllis Summers did not wait for permission. She did not wait for her children to come around, for Daniel to pull his head out of his consistently unemployed self, or for Summer to stop sending nasty grams from Milan. She creatively acquired Summers Conglomerate, and she got to work. Details, details.

Her children walked. Summer delivered a letter through Victoria of all people, which is a new level of Super Girl that deserves its own commentary. Daniel is the Town Hobo, sleeping with a married lesbian and nursing a grudge while his mother builds an empire. Phyllis Summers has been doing this alone, and she has been doing it anyway, and that matters.

Now Lauren and Michael are at the door. The question is what took them so long.

Do you think Lauren Fenmore and Michael Baldwin are showing up for Phyllis Summers at the right time or the wrong one? Send your hottest takes to [email protected] and we just might publish them right here on the page!

Lauren Fenmore Showed Up, and She Was Fabulous

Lauren Fenmore joining Summers Conglomerate is nothing. Lauren does not bet on sinking ships, and she does not attach her name to lost causes. When Lauren Fenmore walks into your corner, you are doing something right. The moment she put Daniel Romalotti in his place this week was everything Genoa City needed to see. Measured, pointed, and completely unbothered. That is Lauren operating at full capacity, and it was fabulous.

The question worth asking is not whether Lauren’s loyalty is real. It is. The question is why now. Phyllis has been in corners before, darker ones than this, and Lauren was not always the first person through the door. That is not an accusation. It is an observation. It is the kind of observation that Phyllis Summers, who misses nothing, has almost certainly already made.

Michael Baldwin Is Playing a Very Careful Game

Michael Baldwin is a more complicated story. Michael has not turned Victor Newman down. He has not exactly followed Victor’s directions either. He is somewhere in the middle, which is exactly where Michael Baldwin has always been most comfortable, and most dangerous.

Here is the thing about Michael on the fence. He is not there because he does not love Phyllis. He is there because Victor is his meal ticket, and Lauren is his wife. If Lauren is in Phyllis’ corner, Michael has to find a way to keep Victor satisfied and his marriage intact at the same time. That is not treachery. That is Michael Baldwin doing what Michael Baldwin has always done, which is survival. Whether Phyllis can afford that kind of survival right now is the question fans on social media are already asking.

Too Little Too Late, or Right on Time?

Phyllis Summers is staring down Victor Newman and Christine Blair at the same time. Her children are gone. Her allies are complicated. She is building something real with people who may or may not be all the way in, and she almost certainly knows the difference.

Lauren is fabulous, and her loyalty is almost as fabulous. Michael is firmly balancing on this very narrow fence and trying to stay married. The women of The Young and the Restless have a way of sorting out exactly who showed up and why, and Phyllis Summers is not our first day in Genoa City.

Too little too late? Or exactly enough, exactly when it counts? Genoa City has not decided yet.

Is Lauren Fenmore and Michael Baldwin’s support enough for Phyllis Summers right now, or has the moment already passed? Sound off below because this one is going to start a conversation!

WATCH THIS: THE SPOILERS ARE IN!

@soapoperamag Y&R SPOILERS FOR FRIDAY, MAY 1ST ARE HERE! #VictorNewman Has Watched #NickNewman Spiral LONG Enough and Friday The Mustache Is About to FORCE the Truth Out and #VictoriaNewman Is Suiting UP for War with #PhyllisSummers! #SharonNewman is going to start questioning #SiennaBacall's loyalty in a way she has been holding back for MONTHS. Genoa City is about to EXPLODE. #YR #YRSpoilers #YoungandtheRestless #YoungandtheRestlessSpoilers ♬ original sound Soap Opera Magazine