Many things could be said about The Young and the Restless’ Tucker McCall (Trevor St. John), but gullible is not one of them. Tucker is a shrewd and ruthless businessman who operates in the realm of Victor (Eric Braeden) and Adam (Mark Grossman), and yet the Abbotts are seemingly forgetting that.
Sure, Jack (Peter Bergman), Diane (Susan Walters), Ashley (Eileen Davidson), Billy (Jason Thompson) and Jill (Jess Walton) all acknowledge at various points in the episode airing on December 12 that Tucker is a viable threat to both Jabot and Chancellor-Winters. That he is the Big Bad Wolf of Genoa City. However, their plan for neutralizing him and cutting him down to size seems like it's not formidable for a man like Tucker.
As laid out during the week of December 4, Tucker and Ashley jointly purchased the beauty/fragrance company Glacade when they were together. It was supposed to be a major part of the Simply Ashley brand that Tucker and Ashley were building when she was determined to leave Jabot.
Well, their relationship obviously fizzled out, but they still co-own Glacade, and Tucker has plans to take the business to new heights, putting it in direct competition with Jabot. The Abbotts surmise that Tucker hopes to cause a lot of infighting among the Abbotts so they tarnish/destroy the legacy of their own family company, and on the backs of their distrust and confession, Tucker can claim a major stake in the beauty market, much to the chagrin of the Abbotts.
Believing they know what Tucker is up to, the Abbotts and Jill are focused on getting Ashley to sell her half of Glacade to Tucker for a hefty price tag, to help strip him of a lot of his capital. Then, once he has the company, the Abbotts want to leak the fact that Tucker was involved in a sexual misconduct coverup of sorts, effectively tanking Tucker’s new business venture and leaving him with nothing.
With all that being said, this new takedown plot is a bit shaky from our vantage point. For starters, Ashley told Tucker in the episode airing on December 8 that she was not going to sell her half of the company to him. However, in the episode again airing on December 12, she claims to have a change of heart and will make him pay dearly for her stake in the business. Is Tucker just going to accept Ashley wants to sell and nothing nefarious is going on?
Additionally, as we’ve already discussed, Tucker is a savvy businessman. It wouldn’t seem likely that he’d go after the Abbotts and not have contingencies in place if things go poorly.
Now would be a great time to point out the minor fact that when Ashley originally expressed she had no interest in selling her stake of Glacade, Tucker pressed his attorney to find a loophole. So perhaps, Tucker will acquire Ashley’s half of the company without paying her a huge sum of money, which would certainly hurt the Abbotts’ scheme.
Let’s say on the off chance that the Abbotts’ plans work, Tucker dumps most of his capital into Glacade and the family leaks the damaging Tucker info to the press. Taking things a step further, let’s say Tucker goes down in a PR nightmare for his role in the McCall Unlimited coverup. We don’t imagine Tucker will be in a destitute position like Jack envisions.
Remember, Tucker was an investor in Mamie’s company that now owns a piece in Chancellor-Winters. It’s possible he somehow recoups his investment by taking a small stake in his bio mom’s company through Mamie, a move that would send Jill up the wall as she knows dancing with Tucker is dangerous.
Plus, as we’ve pointed out before, we don’t recall Tucker and Ashley ever signing a prenup when they got married over the summer. If Tucker loses his fortune, he may just decide to go after Ashley in a divorce settlement. Could he take his soon-to-be ex’s own Abbott fortune, or worse, gain a portion of her stake in her family’s legacy? Could you imagine Tucker forcing his way into a seat at the Jabot table?
Whether it’s Ashely’s inability to effectively trick her ex or Tucker’s sly legal maneuvers, something tells us the Abbotts may not want to celebrate a Tucker defeat just yet.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
