Everyone may say they care about Harrison Locke on The Young and the Restless, but the little guy has been thrown around like a football, and the adults in charge of his welfare don’t seem to care very much.
The Young and the Restless: Bye Harrison
Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) said it wasn’t easy for Ashland Locke to put his son Harrison (Kellen Enriquez) on a plane to Italy and live thousands of miles away from him as he’s dying of cancer. It wasn’t easy to watch either.
First, let’s make no mistake – Tara Locke (Elizabeth Leiner) was wrong when she threatened to take Harrison away from Kyle Abbott unless Summer Newman did her bidding. But, such a move is child’s play considering some of the antics that others in this story have committed. Second, the person who’s paying for all this is actually Harrison Locke.
Y&R’s Father Of The Year — NOT
You’d think that Ashland (Richard Burgi), who’s facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, would want to spend every waking moment with the son he’s raised for over three years. Harrison’s at an age where he’s going to start remembering things, and each day with his father is a gift. Ashland could take his son on day trips and create hours upon hours of videos and photos that Harrison would treasure for the rest of his life.
And you know who else realizes this? Ashland does! “The thought of [dying] has made me more determined to spend what time I have left with Harrison,” Ashland told Kyle (Michael Mealor), “knowing that you’ll be able to spend all the time in the world with him when I’m gone.”
Apparently, he’s not that determined. Instead of spending time with Harrison, Ashland Locke’s going to make sure his son has a current passport as the kid is being shipped off to live with Kyle and Summer (Hunter King). Ashland explained that his treatment didn’t make him feel well and it may only get worse. He recalled Harrison got a look of terror in his eyes seeing his dad get short of breath. He says he wouldn’t want to put his son through anything negative if and when things got worse.
The Young and the Restless: Faulty Reasoning
He’s also going to be robbing his son of spending the final months of his father’s life with him. We’ve seen how Ashland feels about his son. Why not spend as much time with him as possible? Just how weak is Ashland from the cancer treatments?
Ashland seems oblivious to the fact that Harrison has already lost his mother, and now, he’s about to lose the only other parent he’s ever truly known. The adults in Harrison’s life haven’t done a great job of explaining to the boy where his mother is or why she’s not around. So, is the answer to really ship him off to a foreign country to live with people he barely knows?
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What kind of support system do Kyle and Summer have abroad? Summer will be busy working her dream job, which we imagine entails attending social events at night. Is Kyle going to go with her or stay at home with Harrison? What’s better for Harrison? Staying at the Abbott mansion with his grandfather and receiving visits from Ashland (the only father he’s ever really known)? Or maybe he could move in with Ashland and Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle)?
Y&R: More Travel Plans
Ashland says that he’ll fly across the ocean – if he’s feeling well enough – to visit Harrison. Umm…if Ashland is well enough to travel abroad, then he’d be well enough to raise his son in Genoa City, no? Ashland suggested that Kyle bring Harrison to New York where he can visit both Ashland and Tara. (Keep wracking up those frequent flier miles, Harrison!)
And how does Harrison feel about all this? Well, we’re not really sure. Ashland’s conversation with his son took place off-camera on The Young and the Restless but fortunately, he didn’t report there were any looks of terror in his eyes when his father said, “Pack your bags, son. You’re going to live in a foreign country with that guy you’ve known a few months.” Youngsters who are Harrison’s age have testified in court as to which parent they want to live with in divorce cases. Why isn’t Harrison being given a chance to give his input into all this?
Then again, Harrison isn’t that old either. He’s likely at that stage where he may appear to fully understand what’s being presented to him and a minute later, he could be asked, “And would you like to fly to the moon and live there with Santa Claus?” and he’d respond, “Okay!” This is all the more reason for Ashland to keep his son close to him.
Summer’s Not Harrison’s Favorite Season
Maybe Harrison would say if given the chance, “Gosh, father, like my mother, who is innocent until proven guilty by the way, I’m not a fan of Summer’s. And I have no desire to be raised by a nanny or a governess in a hotel suite in Italy while Summer’s at work and ‘daddy’ is on Jabot Cosmetics conference calls. Capiche?”
Let’s keep in mind that Tara hasn’t been convicted of anything on The Young and the Restless. She’s being accused of a white-collar crime and is likely a first-time offender. Maybe she won’t be going to jail? Perhaps Tara will get herself a savvy lawyer who will help her beat the charges she’s facing, hightail it back onto the canvas quickly, and reclaim her son. Otherwise, someday Harrison will grow up and start asking all the adults around him why he was taken away from his father in what may be his final months, why they didn’t stand by his mother, and why he had to grow up in Italy with a man he barely knows and a woman he doesn’t know at all?
The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest that’s been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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