The Young and the Restless holiday re-run featured Ashley Abbott walking around with a blanket that she thought was the baby she and Brad had just lost. That wasn’t the first time she had a break with reality.
Ashley Abbott: On The Edge
First, Ashley (Eileen Davidson) lost her memory when she found out John (Jerry Douglas) wasn’t her biological father and ended up working at a diner as a waitress named Annie for months. Then, Ashley had her second nervous collapse after she’d aborted Victor’s (Eric Braeden) baby and, well, you can guess how sensitively Victor reacted to that. (He didn’t even care that she’d done it for him, so Victor could reunite with a pretending to be terminally ill Nikki!) And then, there was the incident we witnessed. But, is Ashley headed for another pause from reality? Here is what we know so far.
He Said, She Said
No matter how many times Ashley insists that Tucker (Trevor St. John) got violent when they broke up in Paris, her estranged husband insists that it didn’t happen. He even counters with his own much more peaceful version of events. If the show wanted us to believe Ashley’s black-and-white flashback, why did they film a second one from Tucker’s perspective? And, why do they keep replaying it, over and over?
We know, we know, #AlwaysBelieveWomen, but considering how Tucker sleepwalks through most of his other interactions, it’s jarring to see him acting so differently in Ashley’s memory. Heck, he let Kyle (Michael Mealor) sucker-punch him. He’s about as passive as they come.
Once More Into the Breach, My Friends
Is Tucker trying to gaslight Ashley into yet another nervous breakdown so that he can claim they’re still married and thus seize her shares of Jabot? And, if he is, does Ashley’s history make her particularly vulnerable? Is it time to get out the baby blanket or the “Annie” name tag?