When The Young and the Restless introduced Audra Charles in 2022, we were captivated. She was strong, sneaky and full of potential. But since then, the character has been majorly watered down and turned into just another female power player whose power is mostly given to her by the men in her orbit. That was a disappointing enough continuation of a trend — see also: Nikki Newman and Sally Spectra — but then the show went and made it worse.
Even though Genoa City seems to have more corporations than park benches and more CEO jobs than grocery-store cashier gigs, the powers that be told us that Audra couldn’t find a company of her own to run. In a town that’s lousy with them. Then they had Audra agree to use her allure to turn ex-lover Kyle’s head in exchange for the chance to run… um… some corporation or other, whatever Victor finds for her as a thank-you for breaking up his granddaughter’s relationship.
We don’t have three words for this twist, we have three letters: WTH? Audra is supposed to be smart. Yet she’s trusting Victor, and that is categorically stupid. She is supposed to be capable. Yet in Genoa City, where everyone from ex-strippers (Nikki) to card-carrying screwups (Billy) have corner offices, Audra is the only person left out of the game of musical Big Boss chairs.
Why? This storyline does a disservice to the audience by telling us (again) that Audra isn’t as amazing as we were led to believe. It is a slap in the face to womankind, suggesting that Audra’s most marketable quality is her sex appeal. And if she goes through with Victor’s plan, it’s sure to be the end of her otherwise healthy relationship with Nate.
Maybe it does track with the character’s history. Zuleyka Silver did once tell Soaps.com that “somewhere along the line, Audra made the decision to put success in business above her personal life. She’s said ‘I don’t want to get married, I don’t want to lose myself in or to another person.’ I, as Zuleka, don’t know if she means it, but Audra believes she believes it.”
Still, this plot doesn’t have us enthralled, it has us sad. Sad to see Audra’s potential squandered. Sad to see an actor as charismatic as Silver stuck playing this hot mess. Sad to see that Young & Restless has chosen to have Victor learn zilch about the way that he has used women as weapons in the past. Remember how well that worked out when he sicked Patty on Jack? Or when he sicked Kelly on Jack? We do. (We also recall the way The Mustache dropped an imposter Jack in Phyllis’ bed.)
It was gross enough when Bold & Beautiful had Steffy whore out pal Daphne in hopes of breaking up Carter and Hope and thereby regaining control of her family’s company. But at least Daphne didn’t seem grossed out by what she was doing, she saw it as a game. Audra, on the other hand, doesn’t want to do this, she is being forced to in order to achieve her career goals. That is, put simply, yucky. Do better, Young & Restless.
