The Young and the Restless Chance Storyline Is A Painful Cheat

The Young and the Restless seems to have a storyline setting up for Chance Chancellor where he comes back from the dead. After nearly two years of such painful real-life death in the world, it’s a grievous cheat for those of us who’ve lost loved ones forever, knowing they’ll never return.

The Young and the Restless Cheating Viewers

We see Abby Chancellor (Melissa Ordway) refusing to believe that Chance died in the blast at the safe house. She has his wedding ring and a photo of his watch in the rubble. Abby remains convinced that Chance will return to Genoa City for her and Dominic, despite all that evidence.

Returning from the dead remains an often-used part of the soap opera genre. In fact, this isn’t even Chance’s first time with this story — he’s returned from the dead before! However, in a time when nearly 750,000 people in the United States and more than 5 million worldwide died with no hope of returning, it is painful to watch day after day.

Abby’s dialogue, wondering how she will go on if her husband never returns, combined with the way she still doesn’t fully believe and isn’t showing her truly grieving, is almost unbearable for those of us who’ve lost so much.

Rumor Has It

Given that Chance is a Chancellor and played a prominent role in uniting several families, we find it unlikely that the show killed him off. While they’re only rumors, many viewers suspect The Young and the Restless recast Chance, and it looks like they might be setting up a story arc where he returns in time for Christmas as a miracle. For those who will experience our first holiday seasons without loved ones, it feels unbearable to think that we’ll watch these types of scenes in just a few short weeks.

It’s a shame if Y&R is setting up a return, why couldn’t they have had Abby believe and mourn, allowing viewers a catharsis — to see our own mourning reflected back and a chance to release those emotions in a healing way. Ultimately, it feels like a cheat to use this type of trope at a time like this.

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.