At the beginning of this week, I was like...can we speed things up PLEASE?!

Then the end of the week was like a train riding off the rails. Wow. Things really started going fast and it seems like stories may be coming to a close.

Victor was shot, Mariah's head was based in...how did that happen?! Read on!!

Let's start with the train wreck that is Sharon. If we thought she went off the rails before, this is downright ridiculous.

Can anyone tell me why Sharon is off her meds? Did I miss her reasoning for that flaming disaster after Mariah confronted her with it?

Sharon was already seeing Sage. She's fully aware she's seeing Sage. She's not mentally impaired to the fact she's intellectually challenged. Sharon knows she needs her meds to help her through, well, everything (although I'm not sure the show is getting bipolar right, to be frank).

So nothing about this makes even a tiny bit of sense. 

Yet, Sharon just bashed Mariah in the head with a deadly weapon. That's going to be a hard one for her ever-faithful daughter to get over, don't you think? And how will Mariah explain the ghastly wound to anyone who asks IF she continues to cover for her sick mother?

Thank GOD Kevin walked in when he did or she might have killed her to keep her from talking further. 

What's next for this family? Hopefully Mariah will survive and out Sharon for the secrets she's been keeping. Sharon is a danger. To everyone. She can't be around that precious baby anymore. She screwed up royally again. If Mariah has doubts, Kevin can help her be strong. 

Despite Kevin dating Natalie (was this week the first time they officially used that term?), maybe Mariah's near death blow by Sharon will kick Kevin's feeling for Mariah into gear again. 

I've never bought that he didn't want more with her, and their chemistry has always been better than what they're attempting to pull off with Natalie.

At least Kevin has been back in full swing on the storylines again, not only with Mariah, but with the Victoria, Luca and Summer story, too.

For a nanosecond it was believed that Natalie might have been responsible for the oil disaster because she resembled the brown-haired minion Victor was in cahoots with at the prison. 

Even though they're really pushing it to be a showdown between Travis and Luca, they had to investigate a few other parties first.

Thank goodness Summer is growing up just a little bit lately, and after some conversations with Nick is seeing Luca in a different light. Luca is finally allowing his privileged side to show, and by that I mean he wants what he wants and wants it now.

He can't stand that nobody likes him, but does nothing to gain the respect of people. Nobody likes somebody who saves the day and then waves a flag and demands everyone pat them on the back afterward, yet he does it time and again.

That behavior is finally prompting Summer to realize it may be easy for him to save said day because he was the one who mucked it up in the first place. Time will tell.

I don't believe Travis is a bad guy, because he has really good points about Victoria falling into his lap rather than him chasing her down. Their meeting was totally up to her. 

While Billy and Travis did have a run in over what's in Victoria's best interests, it still seems more likely that Billy's concern is out of his love for Victoria, not because he's still IN love with Victoria. 

I don't think his heart has room for anyone other than Phyllis at the moment. And I appear to be one of the sole supporters of Phylly in the US. Does anyone else enjoy them but me? 

Granted, I'm not enjoying them as much now that Phyllis is all mopey about it, but I still see more of an exciting future for them than I do Phyllis and Jack. Perhaps it's because Billy needs someone to partner with in business and in life. They're good at both sides of it.

I wouldn't even mind if Hilary and Jack got together. I'm over Hilary's drama with the Winters clan. Now that she's decided to divorce Devon, she needs to stop coming up with more ways to ingratiate herself into their world and find a way to unwind from it, instead.

Neville has a cure he thinks will save Hilary and the other patients, and when that's over, it's my guess that will be the end of this medical storyline going forward. Michael E. Knight has been let go from the show, and there is no place else for this to go.

While it was interesting for a while, there are only so many characters who can have brain issues before you start wondering if there's something wrong with the water in Genoa City.

You know, with Ashley under investigation by the feds (maybe Neville will take the fall for that and that's how he disappears) and Victor in prison, it's surprising Abby disappeared on the day she and Stitch decided to commit to being newlyweds.

They need to find a better way to keep all characters in the loop, because when an integral member of the family like Abby is missing from major storylines, it feels false.

And would Abby really be missing during such a traumatic time in the Newman family's life? I don't think so.

Just look at what went down on Friday in court. Um...everything!

My favorite part of the trial was that the dreaded Dr. Gates showed up despite Victor's intentions, so she was fully aware he threw her under the bus. 

Isn't this supposed to be a giant redemption story for Victor? Meredith is bound to be a bit of a fly in that ointment. Won't she want the family to know he's not the savior he's claiming to be? 

Because despite the shooting, you can damn well bet Victor will claim victory in all things, saying Ian was a total toad who set everything up and Victor was just a pawn in his schemes. Which he was, to some extent, but will it really be to the extent he claims?

After all, if he's already lying about the feelings he shared with Meredith (anybody else expect her to be pregnant?); what else will he lie about to save his own skin? The man will never be worthy of the hero status he's been granted on the series.

But what does Victor's testimony mean to Adam? It can't really be just as simple as Victor's word and Adam is free, right? Well, it's soap land. Adam probably walks away with more strings on his back pulled by Victor than he'd ever want.

On, and Ian has Nikki in his comically evil but well dressed clutches. Oh brother. Something tells me this is his swan song, too. Doesn't it feel like some of these stories are finally coming to a close for good?

Oh, if we can finally also put to bed Sharon's bipolar story (one more brain issue before Neville goes?!), I'd be the happiest viewer on the planet.

Come on you guys...what are your thoughts for all stories Y&R? If you could have your happy ending to all of the current plots, what would they be? Drop your thoughts in the comments!!

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.