Remember when Dr. Neville was just a weirdo talking in an odd voice and providing comic relief?

Well, it looks like Simon Neville is sticking around a while, since he's proving to be the savior to the medical profession in Genoa City. Look out, Stitch!

When Michael E. Knight first arrived on the scene, it never even occurred to me he would be a long term player as the quirky (goofy) Neville, but after working miracles with Hilary and partnering with Ashley, it looks like he may be Billy's last hope after a terrible week.

Since we're starting this fresh in the new year, let's lay everything on the table. A lot of things on Y&R are surprising me lately. 

Did we every expect Abby and Stitch to really go for the happily ever after of it all? It's still unclear whether there was ever supposed to be more to the Ashley and Stitch thing or if they're going to toss that aside like they do with so many other stories.

Ashley is still uncomfortable with Ben, that's for sure. She felt awkward as heck calling her daughter on her honeymoon to tell her about Billy. Neville pushed the topic, and it was a good decision, awkward or not.

So Stabby had issues before their marriage with Ashley, their honeymoon was interrupted because of Billy's drama, and they discover their newlywed lifestyle will never be because Jenna died in a car crash while Abby was trying to invite her to the wedding. Whoops!

Thank gawd Ben asked the appropriate question – why in the hell didn't any contact him before sending his kid on an around the world flight?

To top it off, not only did Max fly all alone after his mom died, he wound up in the police station because his dad was on his honeymoon. That's all kinds of wrong. Considering all of this happened while they were honeymooning and all that greenery was in use, couldn't they have written it so they had to fly to Australia to pick him up?

Needless to say, Max is likely going to make the Ashley stuff seem welcome in their marriage. And the kid who plays Max, Jared Breeze, starred in a creepy movie with David Morse called The Boy. Check it out if you want to see more. He can do creepy remarkably well. Too well.

We're also going to have to give a pass to Paul – again – for not doing a great job as police chief. And the docs at the hospital, as well. And Marisa. Heck, anyone involved in the story that Billy wasn't really hurt by being beat up and it was more about a hit and run. From a slowly backing up car in a parking garage. Sheesh.

If anybody knows why Marisa told Noah nobody was beating up Billy, and all of his injuries were sustained by the hit and run for which (oh by the way) he happened to be responsible, I'd love to hear an explanation.

Marisa keeps sticking her hands into things that are none of her business. When she arrived on the scene, she was a breath of fresh air. Now she's stale, and I'm hoping Adam takes her down along with Luca. Assuming he's really trying to tank Luca. Is he?

The whole Adam as a double agent thing is also questionable. From one minute to the next, it's hard to tell exactly who is fooling who, but since Victor knows and is calling Adam a double agent, it seems impossible that Adam's trying to take Victor down like I thought. Right?

Way back when, when Kevin and Mariah did the deed and hated it, it became really obvious to me they hated it because they tried too hard. This week when he gave her the birthday present and she didn't kiss him, he was a little bit disappointed.

It's about time! Mariah has continued carrying a torch for Kevin, and he's been going on and on about Natalie the hacker, driving Mariah mad. A little payback is welcome. Mariah doesn't get nearly enough respect on Y&R. She's so real and awesome.

Whoever Natalie really is, it seems incredibly stupid to give millions of dollars to her. She has to be playing Kevin. But that also means she's likely to wind up in Genoa City eventually, just like Mariah did once when she was nothing but a hand with a tattoo and a pain in Abby's butt. 

In case you didn't know, it was also Mariah's portrayer, Camryn Grimes' birthday this week, on January 7. Cool, right?

I'm a little tired of the Dr. Anderson story. Sorry, "Sandy." Unfortunately, she's around for the long haul. She must be about to unleash a whole lotta something if she wants Sharon to lower her meds. At least Sharon and Dylan are asking questions instead of blindly following along.

The whole baby switch thing (as it is every time it is done) is painful and upsetting. Hate.

Which brings us to the big story swirling around. Billy. It's about time Jill had something to do other than hang onto Colin's shoulder, and Jess Walten was given some great material. Tearing into Victor is always welcome. Where the heck was Colin, anyway? Contract situations make family tragedies quite odd.

Nobody seemed to agree upon the value of using Dr. Neville, the voodoo doctor who is also the GC savior, but after Billy coded on the the table and his brain function started swirling the drain, I'm betting Neville is looking pretty good now.

But will it be too late? Awww...heck no. Billy's not dying, but he's (SPOILER ALERT) going to look a lot different, as Burgess Jenkins is out and Jason Thompson will be taking over next week. You could tell the switch was taking place, because by the end of the week, they had cut off Billy's head with the camera.

What did you think of the first full week of 2016? What are you expecting out of this new year? Take a moment to drop me a comment and expect these to post every Saturday! If you would like to participate in a round table discussion, email me! It could be a lot of fun!

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.