Once the dust of Cane’s return to Young and Restless had settled, it became clear that no matter what other ambitions the guy might have, the most important to him was reconciling with his estranged ex-wife, Lily (Christel Khalil). As Cane’s attempts to win her back continue to fail, portrayer Billy Flynn tells Soap Opera Digest he knows exactly where his alter ego has been going wrong. Notes the actor, “When you’re walking on eggshells around somebody and you’re trying to be perfect, it’s always the opposite of what that person actually wants or needs.”

Failure to Communicate

Ever since Cane came back to Genoa City, he and Lily have been butting heads and just haven’t been on the same wavelength, something Flynn attributes both to his character’s stubbornness and a complete breakdown in communication. “The scenes that they’ve had have been a lot of both of them not really responding to what the other person is saying or listening to one another,” he points out. “It feels almost disconnected, and I think that’s by design.”

But the actor does suggest that Cane’s failure could actually work to his benefit in the long run. “When you sort of make a decision to go, ‘All right, I don’t have a chance with that person,’ it frees you up a little bit,” he explains. “It’s like going in for a job interview and you’re super nervous when there’s something on the line, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, he gave the job to somebody else,’ and now you can be this charming, funny person yourself. And I think, ultimately, what Cane needs to just get back to — and what he’s getting back to — is this place where he can be like, ‘Okay, it’s already broken, so I may as well just have fun and be myself with it.’”

The actor thinks a change in strategy is precisely what the situation requires for Cane. “I think before, he was trying to be too delicate,” Flynn says. “And I don’t think Lily wants delicate. She’s strong, and Christel plays it with so much strength, where it’s like, ‘Just stop being whoever this person is. Where is Cane?’ And I think as Cane is losing the things that made him feel like he was this other person, he’s started to just become himself.”

Feels Like Starting Over

Having spent so many years amassing a fortune under the alias of Aristotle Dumas, Cane has found it tricky to reenter Genoa City society and interact with people on a personal basis again. And finding that Lily was unimpressed with his money and power has caused him to rethink his approach entirely. He finally began acting open and honest, baring his soul to his ex on New Year’s Eve and pulling her into a passionate kiss, the couple’s first smooch since Flynn assumed the role. “It’s really easy to come off strong and charming to get the girl when there’s nothing on the line,” he shares. “With Lily, everything’s on the line. It’s the most important thing in the world.”

The Y&R star also believes that through these trials and tribulations, Cane and Lily are on the right path to recapturing some of that old magic. “If you assume you’re going to get the girl, then why watch the story?” Flynn muses. “I think you have to feel like you don’t have a chance. And then I think that kind of leads to this awkward energy and the things that make the girls laugh, those sort of meet-cutes that start relationships in the first place.

“And Christel and I kind of needed to get back to that place,” he adds. “Her and Daniel [Goddard, ex-Cane] had that years ago, that buildup to Cane and Lily. But now I’m Cane, and Christel and Billy need to sort of find out what that rhythm is gonna be. And I think having us start where we’re starting, we can kind of find that. I was dropped into this heavy kind of supercouple-type thing that’s really hard to jump into. You almost needed to break and then start over again, which is kind of where they’re at.”

Unfortunately, with Lily leaving town to facilitate Khalil’s maternity leave as she welcomes her third child, Cane will have to wait even longer to continue working towards a reunion. And loyal “Lane” fans will have to wait several months for the storyline to resume.