There aren’t many adult characters on The Young and the Restless canvas that I can say appear sweet and innocent. Sure Claire (Hayley Erin) seems relatively wholesome now, but I can’t forget she was once Jordan’s (Colleen Zenk) henchwoman. Plus, I’m not entirely sure Claire’s dark side won’t return the longer Summer (Allison Lanier) continues to stomp around Genoa City trying to interfere in the #Kylaire relationship.
But before Claire, the Abbotts have had their residential sweetheart Traci (Beth Maitland). While in the 80s and 90s she gave way to more of the soapy dramatics, since then she’s become a character that really serves as the voice of reason for her loved ones. She rarely gets into shouting matches, she doesn’t voluntarily put herself in love triangles and she manages not to get swept up in the Abbott-Newman feud. Even with her being Miss. Congeniality, it just seems as if she’s always on the receiving end of heartbreak.
I’ve held sympathy for Traci since her issues with Brad (Don Diamont) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson), then the cheating scandal with Steve and of course Colleen’s death. Since her marriages ended and her child died, her source of happiness has been in her writing and her siblings (there was a brief will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic with her and Cane, but that quickly fizzled). Which is why, I was excited by the prospect of her finding romance.
Sadly, my excitement was tampered down a bit because I always had a suspicion that her new beau Alan (Christopher Cousins) wasn’t actually Alan, but his evil brother Martin. And now that it’s been revealed that “Alan” is the one who kidnapped Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Sharon (Sharon Case), all I can do is feel heartbroken for Traci.
What did Traci do for her to habitually be the subject of such emotional torment? When she finds out that her fiancé is a deranged man who put two women through a deadly human experience, she’s going to flip. She’ll probably feel deceived and angry that she could fall for the charm of “Alan” and miss the warning signs that he’s quite the villain.
At this point, Traci may be the most unlucky person in love in all of Genoa City. And that’s saying a lot considering she’s on a soap with Victoria (Amelia Heinle), who only recently reconnected with Cole (J. Eddie Peck), a man who seemingly doesn’t have any baggage.
I’m not sure what’s in store for Traci moving forward, but I can only hope that after this Alan fiasco, real love is in her future at some point. If nothing else, this whole ordeal likely gives her enough content to write another best-seller.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
