Why Audra Charles is one of the most dynamic characters on The Young and the Restless

Many fans of The Young and the Restless would probably agree that Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) is the kind of character you either love or hate. Or maybe you love to hate her. She's beautiful, bright, passionate, ambitious, power-hungry, and will do almost anything (maybe short of murder) to achieve success in the business world. She seems like a throwback to the characters we watched in the prime-time soaps of the 1970s and '80s, like Dallas and Dynasty. We could easily picture her having an affair with Dallas' iconic villain JR Ewing (Larry Hagman), and maybe even getting the best of him somehow.

What happened yesterday on The Young and the Restless

On Friday's episode of The Young and the Restless, Nate (Sean Dominic) tried to get to the bottom of what really happened between Audra and Victor (Eric Braeden). Did she indeed make a deal with him to fund her company Vibrante if she seduced Kyle (Michael Mealor) away from Claire (Hayley Erin)? That was the question Nate wanted a truthful answer to. Not only did she continue to tell him no, but she broke up with him for not believing her.

It was infuriating that she refused to be honest with him. But if we take a deeper dive into her character's behavior, it seems to come from a place of insecurity and an intense fear of rejection. After all the ups and downs she endured last year in her relationship with Tucker (then-Trevor St. John), she is finally in a solid and stable relationship with a man who doesn't have unresolved feelings for someone else. Audra always knew a big part of Tucker's heart belonged to Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson). Nate, on the other hand, loves Audra and only Audra. Perhaps that's one reason why she's so terrified to tell him the truth and risk losing him.

"Terrified" is not a word we associate with Audra. She's tough, courageous, and has great inner strength — or at least that's how she appears most of the time. But we know she has a soft, caring side also. We've seen it in her scenes with Amy (Valarie Pettiford). Audra has been a loving, supportive friend to Amy throughout her battle with leukemia.

Sally tried to encourage Audra to tell Nate the truth

Sally (Courtney Hope) and Audra have developed a close friendship on The Young and the Restless. Sally shared the painful experience she went through when she was involved with Adam (Mark Grossman), and he refused to be honest with her about his one-night stand with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan). "I do know a thing or two about what Nate might be feeling," Sally said. "Adam withheld the truth because he thought it would protect me. But in the end, the lying just made it worse." It would have been nice if Audra had taken those words to heart and told Nate the truth about her deal with Victor.

It feels like so much of Audra's character boils down to this: she walks a tightrope between achieving success in business at whatever cost (which was the reason for her alliance with Victor) and trying to maintain a good relationship with her significant other. She just has the damndest time trying to reconcile those two things.

Audra still remains a mystery in so many ways

The writers of The Young and the Restless have kept Audra somewhat of a mystery. We've only been getting what feels like puzzle pieces about her past. Last year, after Jordan (Colleen Zenk) got Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) hooked on alcohol again, Audra mentioned that she had some personal knowledge of that struggle herself. She said her father was an alcoholic. Audra shared another tidbit about herself when she told Sally she used to be interested in art, but she didn't want to go through the hardship of living week to week as a struggling artist trying to sell her work. So she gave up her artistic dreams and pursued a lucrative career in business instead.

Now that Sally has offered her a job at Abbott Communications, it would be fun to see Audra revisit her creative passions and incorporate them somehow into her role in the business. Maybe she could do graphic design for the company or paint a mural for the lobby? The possibilities are endless if only the writers would explore them.

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It would also be wonderful if we could delve more deeply into Audra's background to get a better sense of what motivates her to be so fiercely driven to succeed. What else happened to her years ago, perhaps in her childhood or college years, that shaped her into the woman she has become? It would be interesting to know, since she is so good at being both tough and tender. We want to know more about her, and we should.

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

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