Nick and Phyllis contemplate an open marriage. One night, a drunken Nick stumbles home in the middle of an orgy Phyllis is having with Billy and the Restless Style gang. He wakes up the next morning not knowing who or what he did and feels degraded. Dr. Tim becomes a resident therapist to the Phick/Shick camps and helps them enter couples counseling. He helps Sharon and Phyllis realize they have latent feelings for each other and suggests they try to develop a romantic relationship, to test the waters. Nick is at first horny and happy but then begins to feel shut out as they are no longer fighting over him. They tell Nick to either grow up or get out.

Ryder and Daisy reveal that their mother is actually a voice in their head. They are not actually related, they are both severely mentally ill and met each other at a young age. They latched onto Lauren as an object of their obsession because they grew up watching true crime documentaries and their favorite was the one involving Sheila Carter's reign of terror. Jana beats Daisy to death as she escapes her prison, and has a mental breakdown. Kevin promises to stand by Jana, and moves near the institution she will be staying in as she tries to rebuild her life. Ryder flees his "sister's" funeral, of which he is the only person attending, and in his grief and anger, he does not realize that Amber and Daniel are arguing in the road. Amber is killed instantly. Ryder is talked out of suicide by Mackenzie, who becomes his chief defender and close friend.

Victor falls for Heather. He begins interfering in her career and personal life to try to win her, and even the score with Adam, whose memory haunts Victor. Heather, badgered into compliance, reluctantly goes to dinner with Victor. Victor is so sure of his night that he pops several Viagara, which mix badly with his other medications. He has a heart attack and nearly dies. Victor is humiliated and finally begins to accept he is an old man.

Daniel struggles to regain his ability to walk and to move on without Amber. With no friends around and Phyllis distracted, he descends into drug addiction. Devon's girlfriend Roxanne saves him from an overdose and they slowly begin dating.

Phillip returns and helps Chance deal with being called to serve in Afghanistan. He also helps Nina in her efforts to find her birth father and the son who was stolen from her. Phillip becomes closer to Jill than he ever was. Phillip finds love with a new man, Tony, who seems fascinated with Phillip's friendship with Nina. After a date, Tony returns home, pulls off his wig and face makeup, and we see David Kimble.

Cane and Lily celebrate the births of their children. With some reluctance, Mackenzie gives them their twins. They promise to always let Mac be in their lives, but this is easier said than done and Lily does not like the thought of their biological mother having a presence. Lily and Cane decide to move to Australia once the cattle rustlers are all brought to justice.

The college lifestyle disturbs Noah. All he sees is sex and alcohol, yet he has no real use for the groups who ask him to be ashamed for having sex. Their words make him believe he will grow up to be like Sharon and Nick, only thinking with their loins. Noah feels increasingly less interested in Eden, or anyone, and dumps her, then withdraws into himself. Noah has no answers and begins wandering. He volunteers at a clinic in a nearby clinic and runs into Brock, who begins talking to him about putting his trust into God. Noah becomes a born-again Christian and tries to mend fences with his family, who are disturbed that a member of their family sees church as something to go to beyond holidays, deaths, weddings, and christenings. Brock and Noah set up a ministry in Genoa City and Noah's beliefs are sorely tested by life in such a sleazy town, but his faith wins out.

The Abbotts plan to throw a surprise party for Mamie. Unfortunately, only Traci turns up, as everyone else is too busy. When Traci does convince them to turn up, they immediately begin fighting with each other. Mamie disowns the family and says "goodbye" to ghost John one last time. She dedicates herself to volunteer work and being a voice people in Genoa City can lean on. She also begins to have increasingly strong beliefs that Drucilla is not actually dead.

Billy learns he has HIV. He shrugs the news off, not wanting to face the truth. He decides to keep having unprotected sex with women, and just lie about his status, because he would rather be in denial. This plan never comes to fruition because a rival blogger in Genoa City leaks Billy's medical records to make up for Billy scooping him at Restless Style. Billy is immediately shunned and accused of endangering countless lives. He contemplates suicide, but Traci convinces him to start over. Billy joins Traci at her church and becomes born again. Unfortunately, he becomes judgmental, self-righteous, and turns Restless Style into a bitter screed against those he deems to be sinners. Brock convinces him he should find a better path and try to love, not hate.

Traci turns the Abbott home into part of her plan to work as a foster mother to trouble children. She's stunned when one of the children bears a striking resemblance to a young Colleen. The little girl's mother is a drug addict who often lets men exploit her. Traci is torn between protecting "her" Colleen at all costs, or working to help turn the mother's life around.

Liz has a bad fall and Jill goes to take care of her. Liz has retired to a small but thriving town with nice, unpretentious people. Jill meets a widowed drug store owner, around her age, who has as many demons as she does, but tries to hide them behind a gruff demeanor. As they begin to fall in love, she keeps her Chancellor background a secret from him.

"Patty" commits suicide on the anniversary of her first wedding to Jack. Emily Peterson leaves town quietly. Stung by his family's lack of sympathy for him, Jack leaves town for several months to find Keemo and Mai, who have disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, as Paul grieves for his sister, he's stunned when Mary and his brother Steve set foot in Genoa City for the first time in ages. They've been traveling. Paul's jaw drops when he sees their special guest...an older version of the Patty Williams Paul had last seen 25 years before.

While fighting for custody of Reed, JT is slowly seduced by a hunky and supportive man he meets at the gym. Unbeknownst to him, this was a setup by Victor, who believes that the courts would have even more ammunition to give Victoria full custody of Reed if JT is involved with another man. To the shock of the Newman family, JT still wins full custody. A spiteful Victor then tells JT of this ruse, and also tells him that Brad Carlton was actually Reed's biological father. JT dumps his boyfriend and then has to decide where to go from here, and to accept his bisexuality. Victoria is so disgusted by all the lies that she apologizes to JT and agrees to share custody of Reed with him. When Victor tells her she's a fool, she slaps him. He fires her from the company and says she is no longer his daughter. A furious Nikki barges into the room, saying that Victoria was never Victor's biological daughter anyway -- her bio father is Kevin Bancroft.

LOVE IT!!!! That remind me of Y&R of the old days. MAB needs to be push in the cage with Jana and replaced by you!!!

I think in order to "fix" this show Augean stables recipe is now the only choice. Meaning massive kill-offs, write-offs, writing team cleansing, directors fired, casting people fired, lighting people fired, everyone fired.

I completely agree. It's the only way.