As Sean Carrigan’s Stitch Exits Young & Restless, We Look at What Went Wrong
Once Stitch was unmasked as Mariah’s kidnapper, it was clear that Sean Carrigan’s days on The Young and the Restless were numbered. And sure enough, Soap Opera Digest confirms that the actor and his tortured alter ego are indeed out.
Almost immediately upon returning to the canvas in late June, Stitch’s behavior had fans suspecting that he wouldn’t be long for the fictional world. Before long, he’d gone from spying on Mariah to cozying up to Abby in a way that, upon the mom-to-be’s disappearance, quickly made him the No. 1 suspect in her disappearance. Many — including us — hoped that Stitch was simply a red herring who’s name would be cleared once the real culprit was exposed, but that was not to be the case… and that’s a shame.
During Carrigan’s original 2013-17 run, his ruggedly handsome doctor proved popular with viewers, especially once paired with Eileen Davidson’s Ashley. Their forbidden passion — what with him being involved with her daughter and all — was everything a soap storyline should be.
Above: “Is it getting hot in here or… yup, no other option. It’s definitely getting hot in here.”
Credit: CBS
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Unfortunately, Stitch’s most recent return was pretty much everything a soap storyline shouldn’t be. Not only did they take the sexy doc and turn him into a creepy stalker/kidnapper, but they didn’t bother playing one iota of romance. And no, “I did it for you, Abby!” doesn’t count as a big, romantic gesture.
Both Carrigan and Melissa Ordway (Abby) gave strong performances during Ben’s big confession, but it wasn’t enough to save a storyline that made absolutely no sense. As viewers, we were left saying, “So hold up… you kidnapped Abby’s surrogate — putting the lives of both Mariah and her unborn child in jeopardy — so you could play the hero by ‘rescuing’ them and Abby would, in a paroxysm of gratitude, declare her love? Sure. That makes sense.”
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The clear intent of the story was to bond Mariah to the baby, and on that level it succeeded. Unfortunately, instead of crafting a storyline which would ultimately make sense — such as Mariah being kidnapped by someone looking to derail Chance’s undercover work — the show simply threw Stitch to the proverbial wolves. (At least his portrayer told Digest that he hopes to redeem Ben someday. Fingers crossed.)
As we say a sad farewell to both Stitch and what might have been, check out our gallery of all the other actors and characters who’ve exited Genoa City of late.
