Young and the Restless Falls Flat With Victoria And Ashland

The Young and the Restless pulled out all the stops to make the wedding of Victoria Newman and Ashland Locke a beautiful event to remember. They’ve gathered cast members and created fantastic videos with clips and commentary from past iconic weddings on the daytime drama. Too bad they didn’t put this effort into the Kyle Abbott and Summer Newman wedding everybody actually cared about.

The Young And The Restless Wedding We Don’t Care About

Typically, weddings on the soap bring high anticipation for viewers as it’s the culmination of a long courtship that has seen a couple overcome obstacle after obstacle, against all odds. Despite all the lead-up and drama the show devoted to this Tuscany wedding, something is missing. We should eagerly await this union, but there’s just one problem. We don’t care, and there are few reasons we should.

For some unfathomable reason, Victoria (Amelia Heinle) is supposedly happier and more in love than she’s ever been. Sure, we know Victoria has a history of whirlwind romances. Nobody could forget Travis Crawford (Michael Roark) a few years back. It happened in what seemed to be a flash (or maybe a wave since they spent time on his boat).

Despite her history, we still find this rapidly developed romance with Ashland Locke (Richard Burgi) unbelievable. The soap never bothered to show these two genuinely falling in love. Instead, since mid-March, he showed up in Genoa City with a wife and child, found out the boy wasn’t his, and had a messy break-up with Tara Locke (Elizabeth Leiner). Oh, and he’s also had cancer treatments. All while romancing and falling deeply in love with Victoria.

It isn’t easy to buy that Ashland is the one for Victoria. Sure, he’s a lot like her father, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), but then, so is Victoria. Typically, opposites attract, and these two characters aren’t opposites.

Lies, Lies, And More Lies

Then there’s the tiny problem that The Young and the Restless expects us to believe Victoria would overlook all of Ashland’s lies. He’s lied to her their entire relationship. Why would Victoria be so madly in love with a liar?

Has Victoria truly tamed the “Locke-Ness Monster?” Unfortunately, for most of this courtship (if you can really call it that), the audience has been left to guess whether or not these two cut-throat business tycoons are playing each other. That might not have been the show’s intention but with their personalities, you couldn’t help but wonder. So it was hard to invest in “true love,” because who knew if that was really what was happening.

We do understand the angle that Victoria would marry Ashland to save Newman Enterprises from the scandal. However, that doesn’t seem to be the real reason she’s marrying Ashland. As we’ve heard numerous times, she’s never loved anyone like him. Really? Why? Not even Billy (Jason Thompson) after all you’ve been through?

Ultimately, we have no investment in this couple, and this wedding feels incredibly forced. We can’t help but wonder why? Why has so much effort (Italian sets, big cast returns, weeks of buildup) and publicity been put into this wedding while a couple that fans actually do care about, Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Summer Newman (Hunter King), was held offscreen? Huh?

Do you feel the same? Sound off 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.