So let me get this out of the way and recognize that The Young and the Restless’ Tucker (Trevor St. John) is no saint. He’s done his fair share of dirt in Genoa City over the years, and most recently, he tried to take over Jabot and Chancellor-Winters (although in the latter scenario, he just wanted to acquire the business to preserve a legacy for his son and grandson). Tucker also tends to make snide remarks to more than a few city residents, and that certainly hasn’t gained him any friends.
However, he hasn’t done anything so bad that warrants literally everyone in town hating him, and yet they do. When I think about all the despicable things some of the major players on the soap have done over the years, it seems rather hypocritical that Genoa City has shunned Tucker.
Sharon (Sharon Case) once burned down the Newman Ranch, Victor (Eric Braeden) had Jack (Peter Bergman) kidnapped and replaced with Marco and Billy (Jason Thompson) slept with his brother’s wife. These individuals may have a few rivals, but they also have a slew of people who love and support them unconditionally. Heck, even Diane (Susan Walters) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) have found forgiveness and support, and they both selfishly faked their deaths, crushing their families.
With all that being said, I’m again left wondering if Tucker’s actions have really warranted him being the town pariah, and for this long?
Diving into Ashley’s (Eileen Davidson) recent struggles, even after it was proven that he wasn’t a violent mean ogre who berated her at a Parisian cafe, people still took cheap shots at him. Additionally, despite him being the only one who has known Ashley has been suffering mentally from the beginning, even taking on a barrage of insults just so he can express his concerns to her family, Genoa City has been downright disrespectful to him.
Fast forward to The Young and the Restless episodes airing during the week of June 3, and despite the Abbotts’ insistence that Tucker stays away from Ashley while in Paris, he winds up saving her from Alan’s (Christopher Cousins) evil twin. You know what was baffling about the aftermath of the rescue, Ashley nor Traci really told him thank you. They didn’t even bother to explain how Ashley got to the point of needing someone to play hero in the first place.
In the immediate future, I’m going to need all the Abbotts, Jack and Abby (Melissa Ordway) especially, to shower Tucker with apologies for the mistreatment and thank yous for being there for Ashley. I also need Devon (Bryton James) to finally forgive Tucker and let go of all the animosity. Arguably, Neil (Kristoff St. John) has done more harm to Devon with all the Hilary (Mishael Morgan) chaos than Tucker has done (even though Tucker wasn’t around as Devon’s biological father growing up).
If it’s not clear, after months of outrage toward Tucker, I’m squarely standing in his corner as a fan.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
