On the Couch: Is There A There There With Y&R’s Abby Newman-Abbott?

As they said in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Abby Newman-Abbott of The Young and the Restless is…mostly harmless. Other than the fact that her first name is also her last name, she’s kind of a non-entity. She’s Ashley Abbott’s daughter. She is Victor Newman’s daughter. She is the mother of Dominic Many Names. And she is Devon’s…um…friend? Talk to? Baby mama? Bedmate? We’re not sure where Abby and Devon stand. And we think a deep dive into her shallow psyche is the reason for that.

Abby Newman-Abbott: Who Am I?

Abby (Melissa Ordway) is hardly the first Genoa City child to spend a portion of her life thinking she was one person’s child, only to be shocked to learn she is actually someone else’s. It happened to her mother, Ashley (Eileen Davidson). It happened to her brother, Adam (Mark Grossman). It happened (and then unhappened) to Summer (Allison Lanier), and it just happened to Abby’s nephew, Johnny (Paxton Mishkind).

When she was an adorable blonde tot, Abby thought Brad (Don Diamont; now Bill Spencer on Bold and the Beautiful) was her father. Then she learned it was Victor (Eric Baeden). Then Victor was responsible for the death of the girl Abby thought of as her sister, but we’re not going to go there for now.

Next Young and the Restless Steps

Abby’s problem is that, unlike Ashley, Adam, Summer, and even Johnny, there has never been more to her than being her parents’ daughter. She is a Newman and an Abbott. She should be a power broker!

But she is also the most ignored Newman and Abbott. She is definitely Victor’s least favorite child. The one he never even tried to manipulate into working for him. And while Ashley adores her daughter, none of the other Abbotts factor Abby in when playing Company, Company, Who Gets to Run the Company?

Abby Newman-Abbott: Overlooked

Her parents are Abby’s most defining trait…and even they have no idea what she’s about. So how can Abby? She is everybody’s afterthought. Including her own. No wonder we don’t know what Abby wants.

Remember how much she wanted to have a family with Chance (Conner Floyd)? So much that they used a sperm donor and a gestational surrogate? Well, now Abby and Chance are separated, and Devon has moved in as Dominic’s primary parent. What will Abby do now? We have no idea. And, unfortunately, neither does she.

Who would you like to see on the Soap Hub couch next? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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