Melissa Ordway, who plays Abby Newman-Abbott Chancellor, took a different approach to finding Mariah on The Young and the Restless. While others might have used force to get Stitch to reveal the missing surrogate’s whereabouts, Abby decided to try to reach her ex-husband by using heartfelt emotion. For her performance as a mother-to-be and an ex-wife who was determined to get some answers, Soap Hub bestows Performer of the Week honors for Y&R on Abby’s portrayer, Melissa Ordway.
Melissa Ordway – Y&R Performer of the Week
Abby was faced with the circumstantial evidence that Dr. Benjamin “Stitch” Rayburn (Sean Carrigan), her ex-husband, was behind Mariah Copeland’s (Camryn Grimes) disappearance. She didn’t want to believe it but she knew she had to do more than explore the possibility given that Mariah was getting close to her due date.
While Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), Devon Hamilton (Bryton James), and Det. Rey Rosales (Jordi Vilasuso) searched Stitch’s hotel room, finding Mariah’s cell phone in the process, Abby was back at the Chancellor mansion. Having realized that it was a very real possibility that Stitch had done something out-of-character, she gently tried to get him to open up. Ordway carefully walked the line between Abby freaking out that Stitch was capable of doing something so horrible while also knowing she might very well be the only person who could reach him and, in the process, save Mariah and her baby.
When Stitch asked Abby how she could accuse him of doing something so terrible, Abby didn’t come right and say he was guilty. She said she was just worried about her friend. Stitch could understand that, right? She gently apologized for jumping to the wrong conclusions all the while knowing that the clock was ticking. Abby asked Stitch if he could understand why she’d have reason to.
“I’m sorry,” Abby tearfully said. “I don’t know if I believe your story anymore.” While Abby was getting close to possibly locating Mariah, she also knew she was losing someone she considered to be a friend. She wouldn’t tell Stitch this but there’s likely no way she can over forgive him – not until after the man gets some much-needed therapy. If Abby was feeling this, she did a great job of hiding it from her unbalanced ex.
Throwing Out A Lifeline
While an emotional Abby realized that Stitch was showing a never-before-seen side to his personality, she couldn’t believe that Mariah’s fate was in her hands – she just knew that she had to reach her ex. To do that, Abby opened her heart and hoped that Stitch would come clean. Abby kept trying to humanize Mariah by pointing out all her great qualities to Stitch.
Abby couldn’t be 100% sure if Mariah was alive or not but she held onto the belief that Stitch would never hurt anyone. She finally got Stitch to open up and once he did, she couldn’t quite feel fully relieved as Mariah was still missing. Abby told Stitch she could be there for him once they cleaned up this mess. Abby carefully phrased her words so that Stitch would feel that this was all a very fixable situation.
Stitch brought Abby to Mariah and made a hasty retreat. Even after Abby knew Mariah was okay, she never lost sight of her friend’s safety and mental well-being. Abby didn’t want to jar the surrogate mom emotionally so she didn’t name Stitch as the guilty party in all this. She stuck to the matter at hand – making sure Mariah got to the hospital.
When it appeared that that wasn’t going to be an option (this baby wasn’t going to wait!) Abby prepared to do what was necessary to ensure a safe delivery. Fortunately, Devon and Rey found Mariah’s location, too. Abby and Devon helped deliver the baby with a video call assist from Dr. Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic).
While Abby helped bring into the world the baby Mariah was carrying, Melissa Ordway delivered some of the best work of her career as Abby reached her tortured ex, who ultimately stepped up and did the right thing thanks to Abby offering herself as an emotional lifeline.
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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