‘The Young and the Restless’: What Should the Show Do About Paul’s Absence?
Paul Williams (Doug Davidson) is a legacy character on The Young and the Restless. Since 1978, fans have fallen in love with the Genoa City hero. However, Paul hasn’t been seen in two years, and it’s time the writers address the elephant in the room.
Paul Williams’ last appearance on ‘The Young and the Restless’ was in November 2020
Since his debut in May 1978, Paul has won the hearts of The Young and the Restless fans. The bad boy, teenager, grew into a mature adult and a Genoa City hero. As the town’s top detective, Paul’s job was to protect and help his friends and other citizens.
Paul’s love interests included Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman) and Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). But it’s his relationship with Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell) that made them a super couple. Paul endured many heartaches, including being responsible for the death of his son Ricky Williams (Peter Porte).
Although Paul was a main character like many veteran characters, his onscreen time started dwindling. According to Daytime Confidential, Davidson was bumped to recurring status in 2018. Paul’s last appearance came on Nov. 19, 2020.
The show needs to address Paul Williams’ absence
The Young and the Restless fans are hoping that Paul will return; however, that seems unlikely. There appears to be bad blood between Davidson and the show. Davidson has been very vocal about the show’s treatment toward him. The actor is so frustrated that he’s vowed he’s never going back to the CBS soap opera.
Since the show has no plans to bring Davidson back, they need to do something about Paul. They can’t have his absence continues, especially when there’s a storyline he should be involved in. There are several ways they can write Paul’s exit.
One way is to kill off the character. Many characters have died offscreen, and the show can have Paul die in a heroic act. Then Genoa City can come together and mourn the beloved detective in a touching tribute.
If the writers do kill off Paul, it’d be met with backlash. The show could play it on the safe side by having Paul divorce Christine, then leave Genoa City.
The treatment of the character is one of the biggest criticisms of ‘The Young and the Restless’
The Young and the Restless might be daytime TV’s number-one soap opera, but it’s faced much criticism. One of the biggest criticisms is the show’s treatment toward veteran characters like Paul. Although Paul was bumped to recurring, there was much more they could’ve done with his character.
Paul’s detective skills would’ve come in handy during the Ashland Locke (Robert Newman) cover-up last summer. While the Newmans got off scot-free thanks to Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd), Paul wouldn’t let that fly. The detective wouldn’t have rested until the Newmans were brought to justice, earning him scorn from Nikki and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden).
Paul’s marriage to Christine should also be a focal point. Everything seems to be going smoothly for the couple, yet Danny Romalotti’s (Michael Damian) recent return has sparked old feelings in Christine. Paul should be back, warning Danny to stay away from his wife. Yet, the detective is nowhere to be found.
