Young and the Restless: Heather’s Death Gets Insanely Bad Twist on Y&R – An Insult to Fans

You’re reading to DrinkFood. Hey, Y&R fans, we’ve got to talk about how Heather Stevens’ death is explained this week and why it’s one of the worst and most improbable twists they’ve ever tried to get by the fans. It’s Belinda from Soap Dirt, and you are not going to believe this—it is absolutely insane. Insanely bad.

So, if you’re current on episodes, you saw Sharon Newman tussling with Heather Stevens and knock her down in a fight to get her phone away from her. Then Sharon blacked out, and when she came to, Heather was dead with some kind of head injury, all bloody. With Cameron coaching her, Sharon double-checked, made sure Heather was most definitely dead, wrapped her in a blanket, tied her up tight, hauled her down the stairs out of the apartment, and then cleaned the crime scene, wiping up the blood and taking Heather’s belongings—her phone, her purse—before getting out of there. Later, Sharon tossed Heather’s body over a bridge into the river, hoping it would never be found.

But Daniel got a call the next day (I think, based on the outfits on the show, it was fast) because a fisherman found Heather’s body. That should have launched an immediate murder investigation—there’s no way Sharon would have gotten away with it. She’s no crime scene cleaner or forensics expert—she’s an unhinged woman with a dead guy as an imaginary friend, encouraging her to do bad things.

But, actually, it’s not even about what Sharon did—it’s just about bad writing. Here’s the twist and the three biggest reasons it doesn’t add up. Honestly, it’s nothing short of insulting to Y&R fans.

I don’t know what other TV shows you watch in addition to Young and the Restless, but if you’ve ever seen NCIS, CSI, or any crime procedural show like Bones, or even murder docu-series on Netflix, you already know that what Josh Griffith wrote about Heather’s death is absolutely ludicrous. It is beyond what is reasonable to accept on a soap opera, and there’s a lot we accept, right? Diane Jenkins back from the dead? Okay, sure, no problem. Cassie has a secret twin? Sure, okay. Adam survives a cabin explosion? Fine. But Heather’s cause of death being listed as drowning? That is not okay. It’s beyond dumb, and that’s why it’s so insulting to fans.

Let’s talk about why it’s so problematic. First, there’s the time of death. Despite Heather being in the water, they can usually test the water temperature, check for tissue deterioration, and look at decomposition—whether there’s insects or water bacteria growing on her, or if the body has rigor mortis. There are algorithms to factor in corpse and water temperature, river flow, etc. They’d easily figure out she didn’t drown. But, hey, we can let that slide.

Here’s the next issue. Sharon tied Heather up in blankets with rope, thorough enough for her to stay secure while dragged downstairs, shoved in a trunk, and dumped into the river. Yet none of the blankets or ropes were found? Even in rough waters, not all of that would come off. But fine, let’s assume the blanket disappeared.

Then, how did Heather get to the river if she accidentally drowned? Where’s her car? Sharon drove her far to dump the body, but Heather’s car should have been nearby if she went to the river herself. Are they saying she hitchhiked?

The real kicker is this: Forensics 101. If you drown, you suck water into your lungs. If you’re killed on dry land, like Heather, and then put into the water, you don’t. Heather would have no signs of drowning. She was dead in the apartment, so no water in the lungs—simple as that. It’s an insult to anyone who’s ever watched a crime series, and it’s bad writing that the writers think fans won’t notice.