With Jamey Giddens & Dan O’Connor stepping in as Young & the Restless’s new head writers, it’s a good moment for a wishlist. These two men didn’t just die — they left behind unresolved messes the show never actually cleaned up. New writers are the perfect excuse to finally finish the story.
Chance Chancellor (previously played by Donny Boaz & Conner Floyd) wasn’t just Abby Winters (Melissa Ordway)‘s husband — he was the last Chancellor left standing after Katherine Chancellor, & losing him meant losing an entire legacy line, not just one character. His funeral happened off-screen in LA, which means Young & the Restless fans never actually saw him laid to rest. That alone should be reason enough to raise an eyebrow.
Here’s the thing — this isn’t even the first time Chance has “died.” He was once presumed dead while on assignment in Spain, & Abby refused to accept it. She went looking for him herself, & she was right — he was alive. Genoa City already proved once that a Chance death doesn’t necessarily stick. Why should this time be any different?
Ashland Locke (originally Richard Burgi, later Robert Newman) & Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) were supposed to be it — the next Victor & Nikki, Genoa City’s next great power couple. With Richard Burgi in the role, it actually worked. Then Burgi was let go over a COVID-related dispute, Robert Newman stepped in, & whatever chemistry Ashland & Victoria had never fully recovered.
The end was just as sketchy as the recasting. Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) accidentally killed Ashland while defending Victoria — except there was no body claimed, no funeral, no real closure. One day his body was just gone. For a death this important to the show’s power dynamics, it happened awfully quietly.
The fix here is simple: bring Ashland back, & bring back Richard Burgi to play him. Genoa City never got the power couple it was promised, & this is the writers’ chance to actually deliver it.
Genoa City runs on resurrections, & these two men have more unfinished business than half the current cast combined. So, new writers — Chance & Ashland are waiting. Fingers crossed the new regime agrees.
It’s not my first day watching Young & the Restless, & it isn’t yours either. Chance or Ashland — who do you want back first?
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