We take The Young and the Restless to task for its shortcomings a lot. So when the soap really manages to shock us, it seems only fair that we give it the credit it deserves.
When Tessa and Aria went missing, we, like Mariah, 100% believed that they’d somehow been taken by Ian, the supervillain with the strength of 50 men half his age. Why would we think anything else? Since his return to Genoa City and the reveal of his team-up with Crazy Aunt Jordan™, all roads have led to him. Sharon cracking up? Oh, Ian. Heather dead? Damn it, Ian. Tessa drugged? Come on, dude!
Of course we’d imagine that Mariah’s wife and daughter had fallen prey to Ian’s cockamamie scheme to make amends or get revenge or… Well, OK, we ain’t giving the show any credit for the baddie’s plot, the point of which was as clear as mud. But we will give Young & Restless kudos for zagging when we expected a zig. Tessa wasn’t kidnapped, her electric car had just run out of charge. And so had her phone. And when Abby came along, she didn’t have her phone.
Yes, it’s a silly string of coincidences. And it makes Tessa out to be a real space cadet. “I know! Lemme go for a drive with my baby in Wisconsin in winter with AARP menaces around every corner without checking whether anything is charged!” But at least it was a surprise. (Admit it, you thought Tessa had been abducted, too, right?)
