Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk) may be walking around Genoa City, having been certified by a doctor that she’s no longer a threat to folks. However, fans of The Young and the Restless haven’t forgotten or forgiven her kidnapping Colleen Cartlon (Tammin Sursok) all those years ago. Poor Colleen escaped Patty’s clutches only to drown in a lake.
Colleen’s mother, Traci Abbott, played by Daytime Emmy-winner Beth Maitland, finally got to lay into Patty for her evil actions that robbed her of her daughter. TV Insider is honoring Maitland with our Performer of the Week honors for her tour de force!
Traci spied Patty at Chancellor Park Café with Dr. Laurence Markham (Jere Burns), and right away, she knew that they were up to no good!
“You can stuff the phony pleasantries, Patty,” Traci stated after Patty tried to smooth things over with some, well, phony pleasantries. “I despise you, and that will never change. So, let’s not pretend it’s anything otherwise.”
Most characters on soaps will scheme and lie, but Maitland has always brought a sense of good-hearted honesty to her role, one of the many reasons that the character is a fan favorite. But that doesn’t mean Traci won’t let loose when people deserve it, and Patty certainly does!
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Patty tried to sell Traci that Dr. Markham had come to Genoa City to check up on her, but Traci wasn’t buying. “I think you can do better than that, Patty,” Traci shrugged. “This lie is very unbecoming.”
Patty had the audacity to apologize to Traci and her family for her actions, but Traci remained firm in her stance. “This is so incredibly rehearsed,” Traci stated. “You know what? You should get cards printed up. It would be so much easier. You could hand over a card instead of wasting your breath.”
Patty’s plan to re-win Jack’s (Peter Bergman) heart is an uphill battle. And thanks to Maitland bringing a strong reserve to Traci, Patty’s journey is going to be all that much harder.
“Remember who you’re talking to,” Traci said. “I am the mother of a girl who died because of you, and now you want my forgiveness for that.”
Soap antagonists count on characters forgetting, misremembering, or forgiving their horrific actions, but Maitland’s Traci speaks for the audience each and every time she fires back at Patty and calls things as they are.
There is no stronger force in the world than a mother’s love for her child. To deny Traci the opportunity to blast Patty would have been unforgiveable. Patty’s persistence was frustrating for Traci to hear, but it just gave Maitland more of a platform to have her character fire back.
“No. You’re not,” Traci responded, refusing to back down, after Patty claimed to regret her actions. “You are not sorry for anything. And there is not a single soul in the entire town that believes you’ve changed — least of all me!”
Traci’s known for her honesty, but she’s also incredibly loyal to her family. So, when Jack asked Traci and other family members to play along with his scheme to make Patty think that she was in the driver’s seat so she’d help lead him to Diane (Susan Walters), Traci showed that she’s an actress along with being an author.
“We can see that you have made up your mind,” Traci faux tersely told Jack after he announced that Patty was sticking around. “Goodbye, Jack.”
At the Genoa City Athletic Club, Traci let her guard down with Lily (Christel Khalil) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), confiding in them of Jack’s plan to lull Patty into a false sense of security.
Patty’s clearly not reformed or in her right mind, two things she’s professed are the case, as she’d arranged for Diane to be kidnapped.
However, Maitland’s Traci helps ground this story, providing a balance to Patty’s outlandish schemes. As Traci, Maitland brings common sense to the larger-than-life predicaments in which characters from Y&R find themselves.
Brava to Maitland for having Traci cut loose against the woman whose actions resulted in the death of her only daughter, and for being the emotional anchor that her family needs.
The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
