HOLLYWOOD—A few weeks ago we discussed the ramifications of Steve Burton aka Dylan McAvoy leaving the residents of Genoa City on the CBS soap “The Young and the Restless.” Well, it looks like this week is the final farewell for the character. Dylan whose mental state was slowly dissipating after the revelation that Sully was not his son, but his brother Nick’s (he’s not Nick’s child either), left him unnerved. His wife Sharon betrayed him in the worst way, and his happy life was falling apart.

Well, usher in Christine Williams, who just happens to be Paul’s wife and a top-notch attorney working on behalf of the federal government. She has been eager to take down a drug-lord by the name of Fisk and utilizes Dylan to work undercover to nab the criminal. Unfortunately, his wife Sharon may have played a role in Dylan’s cover being blown. Dylan was confronted by the criminal where he was shot, and the rest in the soap world remains a mystery.

I said it before, if you’re going to take out a character from a soap, sometimes a murder is the best way to do it, because it brings a storyline to the canvas, not to mention it gives characters that aren’t doing much and opportunity to showcase their acting chops. Paul headed down to Miami to get an update on the status of his son, which does not look good. Christine is going to be left reeling with guilt, not to mention  Sharon, who at this point has not only lost a child she thought was hers, but her husband. Yep, Sharon’s life as we know it is spiraling out of control. So we can expect to see some fascinating acting from actress Sharon Case along the way.

Rather, the series plans to recast the character of Dylan is yet to be seen, but I would not be surprised if it transpired, it just might take some time before that happens. I mean look at what happened with Adam Newman (Y&R) and Jason Morgan (GH), when their respective portrayers exited the soap. It was alike a 1-2 year process before the characters resurfaced. Well, Dylan’s departure is the big talk of the soap, but we can’t forget the hot button storyline involving Lauren and her department store Fenmore’s.

Yes, it’s been quite some time since Lauren was front-and-center on the soap. This week, the truth was revealed when Lauren and Phyllis discovered that Jack has been secretly working against Lauren to claim a stake in her company. Lauren fumed more when she discovered that her nefarious mother-in-law Gloria was behind the shenanigans. Gloria has always been a sneaky character, so it was nice to see someone besides Michael and Kevin go toe-to-toe with the mischievous fiend.

While the cards may be down for Lauren, she still has an ace in the bag with her close pal and fashion titan Eric Forrester from “The Bold and the Beautiful” who swept into town to help Lauren in her time of need. I mean it’s interesting that audiences don’t see more cross-over between “Y&R” and “B&B.” I mean they are both on CBS! Another hot-button issue worth discussing as we head into sweeps is the dissolution of marriage between Devon and Hilary. Yup, it looks like Devon has finally had ENOUGH of his wife’s dirty tactics and has decided to kick her to the curb.

That looks like good news for Lily, but she needs to worry about her husband Cane who is none too pleased with his wife becoming the face of his company Brash and Sassy. Trouble is indeed in paradise for many couples in the soap world, and with February sweeps getting ready to kick off; there is no telling what will happen!