The Young and the Restless killed off Rey Rosales when he drove to get hockey tickets he’d left in a different coat. Given his profession as part of the Genoa City Police Department, it seems strange, out of all the options available, that Rey’s life would end in a storyline like this.
Young and the Restless: Holding Out For A Hero
There are so many more interesting ways that Rey (Jordi Vilasuso) could’ve exited the soap opera. We didn’t even get a death scene for him! For instance, they’d set up a situation where Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd) struggled coming back to work at the GCPD. He’d even frozen up while out with Rey on a recent stakeout. One way they could’ve written out Rey is having him lose his life during police work where Chance once again struggled with his PTSD.
Even if they didn’t want to do that to Chance, the soap could have had Rey tracking down bad guys on some big case, and things could’ve gone wrong. The bad guys could’ve killed Rey.
Failing that, Rey could’ve died trying to save somebody else while in the line of duty. Or, he could’ve served a search warrant gone wrong. Any type of police angle without the PTSD could’ve given Chance a storyline because then he could’ve worked to bring justice to whoever killed his partner. In fact, it could’ve given Chance a way to overcome his feelings of inadequacy, and perhaps he would’ve even felt redeemed.
As it is, having Rey die driving back from picking up hockey tickets feels like a real waste of what could have been a profoundly dramatic opportunity. Sure, Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan) feels guilty, and Victoria Newman Locke (Amelia Heinle) may feel some guilt, but it’s all still far less dramatic than what could have been. It often feels as if Y&R has forgotten the “drama” aspect of daytime drama. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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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