You’re listening to Soap Dirt, the latest in television entertainment news. Hey, Y&R fans! Recently, we have had Jack Abbott and Diane Jenkins making very public scenes, chewing each other out, saying terrible things, and shocking everyone in Genoa City.
It’s Belinda from Soap Dirt, and I just suspect this might be more than their marriage breaking up — this might be a curated experience. Are Jack and Diane hitting the rocks, or are they rocking a revenge plan? Please hit subscribe if you’re not following us already, and let’s get into this.
We know that Victor Newman’s master plan is to not only destroy Jabot but to dismantle Jack Abbott’s personal life by ruining his marriage and his family. That’s why Victor lured Kyle Abbott over to GLAAD, and Victor’s taken every chance to widen the gap between Kyle and his parents — and it is working like a charm.
I mean, obviously, we’ve seen Jack and Diane bickering when they’re one-on-one, talking about Kyle, but never as nasty as it has gotten in public. You know, Diane has no doubt that Kyle stole that product from Jabot; they just don’t have a way to prove that he did it. Jack suspected that Victor was the money man behind GLAAD, and now Audra Charles has confirmed it.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen Jack and his wife Diane in a series of escalating arguments in public places — most of them at the GCAC, some at Society, and occasionally at the Abbott mansion. These fights always have witnesses. Sometimes it’s Victor watching and laughing. Sometimes Nikki, Michael Baldwin, Kyle, or even Claire Newman have seen it.
At the house, Jack has snarked at Diane in front of Tracy Abbott and her boyfriend Alan Laurent, but we’ve not seen too much of Diane alone with Jack lately where nobody else is around and no one can hear them.
Later this week, Diane comes home upset and tells Tracy that Jack told her to move out of the mansion. I wonder if he tells her to move out while they’re out in public, having one of these very in-your-face spats that other people can hear. Tracy tries to mediate things between them, but I just wonder — are these arguments real?
Some of the things Jack has said are things that viewers know are not true, like when Diane accused him of thinking she’s the same manipulative person she used to be decades ago when she bailed on him and their son and faked her death. But the thing is, I don’t think Jack thinks that at all. Diane has proved to him over time that she’s not the same woman she was, and that’s why he fell in love with her all over again, proposed, and married her.
Yes, Victor is plotting against them, and Kyle has been awful, but I just don’t think what they’ve done is enough to break the bond that Jack and Diane have. That’s why I suspect this might all be a big setup — a big public theater thing to convince Victor that his plan is working perfectly.
Granted, Kyle did steal a product from Jabot — that part is absolutely legit because we saw them scrambling on calls with their lawyers. But if you notice, Diane and Jack have been working in a lot of public places — not the office, but the GCAC, Crimson Lights, Society, and in the public areas of their home. Is that because they want to be overheard bickering? They would have to keep it up at home to make sure that Kyle believes it.
So the only time Jack and Diane could relax — if indeed they are running a scheme — is behind closed doors at the office or in their bedroom at the mansion.
This week, Kyle tells Claire how heartbroken he is over his parents’ marriage falling apart and all these awful public arguments. It seems like he would be happy because he knows that he and Victor have done this. He knows he’s part of ripping them apart. But Kyle seems legitimately upset when he’s talking to Claire. So if Jack and Diane are trying to shake some sense into their son, it looks like it’s working.
By Friday of this week, Victor is thoroughly convinced that Diane and Jack’s marriage is in shambles. He approaches Diane, wanting to recruit her to his side. Victor may tempt her to work with him, even offering to help reconcile her with Kyle. Obviously, he wants her to turn on her husband, and maybe this is exactly what Jack and Diane were hoping he would do.
Diane might be a Trojan Horse that Victor is inviting into his inner sanctum. In ancient Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse was a huge wooden horse with soldiers hidden inside. It was left as a gift outside the city gates. The city folk took it inside, and in the dead of night, the soldiers snuck out, opened the gates, and let the whole army inside to conquer the city.
So Diane may be a Trojan Horse to take down the mustache, and if Victor lets her in because he thinks she has split from Jack, she can get the info she needs. She could open the gates to Jack, Billy, Lily, Audra, and everyone else who wants revenge on Victor Newman.
We know Jill’s coming back, and she’s going to want a piece of that too. So, it remains to be seen if Jack and Diane are really on the cusp of divorce or if they’re as solid as ever and united in this plan to teach Kyle a lesson and take Victor down a notch or two (or ten).
Kyle, to me, is coming off as an entitled brat who really should appreciate the opportunities he’s had at Jabot. There were better ways for him to deal with his dissatisfaction than to betray the family business by going to a competitor. That was bad enough, but then he stole from Jabot — awful.
On Tuesday’s U.S. episode, it’s pretty hypocritical when Kyle tells Claire that his parents forced him to do the things he’s done and are painting him as the villain. They didn’t force him out at Jabot. Diane fired him because he was undermining her at work, disrespecting her, behaving badly, and refusing to back down.
As for him being made out as a villain — I’m not sure how he’s trying to blame that on anybody but himself because he stole from the family business and gave it to Victor’s company. Kyle needs a reality check because those are villainous deeds.
As for Victor, he needs a brutal takedown at this point. It seems inevitable given how many people he’s doing dirty right now — targeting Chancellor’s company, Jill Abbott, his friend Neil’s daughter Lily, and so many others.
Will Victor get taken down? I hope so. We’ll see how it goes, but I, for one, am cheering for Jack and Diane. I really hope they’re scheming rather than splitting.
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