Soap Opera Science: When The Young and the Restless Went Too Far

These days, everyone is talking about listening to science, whether that means following Center for Disease Control mandates, reading Ivy League medical school studies, or just making choices about vaccines for yourself and your loved ones. The Young and the Restless? Maybe not so much.

The Young and the Restless — Blinded Me With Science

COVID-19 is completely absent from The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless. This is probably a good thing, considering that, when it comes to science, your favorite shows have a very…loose grip on how it works. Here is our favorite example from The Young and the Restless.

Y&R: I Don’t Think It Means What You Think It Means

Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) knew he never wanted to have children. Which is why he had a vasectomy. This is why, when his assistant, Eve, claimed he was the father of her son, Charles (J. Eddie Peck), Victor said that was impossible, and paid her off to send the kid to boarding school. (Yes, this is the same Victor who recently lectured Sutton Ames about how he never, ever turns his back on family.)

Which is why when Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott) claimed he was the father of her unborn child, Victor told her that was impossible, and ordered her to marry Kevin, the man he’d personally picked out for her. (That baby was Victoria Newman. And, yes, the same family-minded Victor.)

Young and Restless: Soap Logic

After he admitted that Victoria was, indeed, his, Victor went on to defy medical science by proving that not only are vasectomies not effective in stopping pregnancy, they actually raise the odds of fathering a child.

Victor went on to sire Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow), Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), and Abby Newman Chancellor (Melissa Ordway), plus several miscarriages (and one abortion) with previous wives. Though he was right about one thing: Charles, who changed his name to Cole, wasn’t his. Which is how he ended up married to Victoria.

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.