Four deaths and no funerals: Why The Young and the Restless should let us be sad 

Death has always been a part of soaps, so we understand that characters like Cole, Damian, and Chance on The Young and the Restless had to go to that great daytime drama in the sky. But we're puzzled as to why the top-rated serial doesn't milk their passings for all they are worth.

The Young and the Restless, fond off-camera farewells

Y&R killed off three people this summer — four if you count Carter, which we do, and we'll get to him later. But first, let's examine the three folks who died that we knew far more intimately, two in particular. First, there was Cole, played by fan favorite J. Eddie Peck. The actor was off the canvas for nearly 25 years when he came back to the show, when it was revealed that Cole and Victoria's (Amelia Heinle) daughter, Eve aka Claire (Hayley Erin), was alive.

As soon as Cole started coughing after returning from his international business trip for Newman Publishing, viewers feared he was going to be killed off. He did indeed die in scenes that earned Peck and Heinle Soap Central's Performers of the Week for Y&R. We saw Vicki and Claire talk about holding the memorial until the rest of their family returned from France. Great idea!

But when they did return, we only saw the family after the service. Why not show characters speaking at a chapel and praising Cole's love a family along with his success as a book author?

Having the service take place off-camera robbed viewers of the opportunity to say goodbye to Cole. If the goal is to avoid playing too much sadness, then maybe don't kill the character at all. Cole could have gone to work for Newman Publishing overseas if it were a case of the cast being too heavy.

Dear dead Damian

Damian wasn't on the canvas very long. But Lily grew to care for him. It was touching watching Amy (Valarie Pettiford) and her son slowly reconcile. Instead of having an on-screen memorial for Damian, viewers were told it took place off-camera. Sure, we heard characters talk about how sad it all was, but there's an old saying that goes, "play it, don't say it!"

There is a greater dramatic impact in watching Amy mourn her son rather than viewers learning that she was sad at a memorial that took place off-camera.

Take a Chance on mourning

Chance's off-screen memorial was the most egregious. He was the heir to the Chancellor family name, the grandson of the late Phillip Chancellor II (Donnelly Rhodes), the former husband of Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper).

Daytime Emmy-winner Tricia Cast, who plays Nina, Chance's mom, is one of the best actresses ever to appear on Y&R (not to mention all of daytime). She would have slayed the mourning scenes we never got to see! We saw Jill (Jess Walton) chastise Billy (Jason Thompson) for not contacting her about Chance's death, but Jill was told off-camera, too.

There was also no mention of Chance's father, Phillip II (Thom Bierdz), or Ronan (Jeff Branson), Chance's older, half-brother. File these under missed opportunities.

It's understandable if Y&R didn't want to have back-to-back-to-back funerals. But we could have lived with one big memorial service for all three characters, or at least shown one. (Our vote would have been for Chance's.)

Carter Country

Unlike Cole, Chance didn't get a goodbye scene. It was curious that the trained law officer couldn't have disarmed Carter more effectively, given his physical superiority.

Speaking of Carter, he died just as we were getting to know him. What were the specifics of his sad life? As budgets are a concern, Y&R could have had a memorial for Carter, as the only two people who would have shown would have been Cane (Billy Flynn) and Amanda (Mishael Morgan). Or maybe a third person could have attended a service for Carter -- his twin brother, say, Charles, also played by Stalba?

Trending

Soaps are famous for making us laugh, making us cry, and making us wait. We wish that Y&R would take advantage of characters dying to make us cry.

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback