The Young and The Restless fans are upset over the death of Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Fans believe the writers wasted Cole’s character by ignoring his history with legendary characters Victor (Eric Braeden), Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), and Ashley (Eileen Davidson).
Instead of capitalizing off Cole’s ties to the characters, the writers chose to reduce him as just Claire’s (Hayley Erin) father. Fans weren’t holding back their anger towards this decision.
Cole Howard Had A Deep History in GC
Viewers are upset because Cole had history with almost everyone in Genoa City. At one point, Cole thought Victor was his father. He had complex relationships with Nikki, Ashley, and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) so the drama was limitless.
For some reason Cole didn’t interact with Victor much. They didn’t discuss their past together. Nikki and Cole may as well have been strangers even though he used to work as her stable hand.
The writers had plenty of material to work with but chose to stick him in a story with just Victoria and Claire. They decided to focus on him being a dad to Claire.
Y&R fans felt his character was wasted because he wasn’t given a storyline of his own. His only purpose was looking out for Claire. He didn’t do much besides react to Claire being his daughter.
Once the revelation came out that his aunt Jordan (ex-Collen Zink) kidnapped Claire and the story wrapped up, he suddenly contracted Legionnaires’ Disease.
After he got the disease, his character died. J. Eddie Peck didn’t get a chance to stretch his acting chops by playing a character suffering from the disease.
One viewer felt the writers didn’t give them a reason to root for Cole and Victoria getting together.
The viewer felt that Cole and Victoria’s scenes were better when Heather Tom played the character of Victoria in the 90’s. This fan felt there was no tension or drama between Cole and Victoria.
Was J. Eddie Peck A Budgetary Decision?
Other fans believe J. Eddie Peck was written off the show because of money. A viewer believed that the powers that be couldn’t afford to keep Cole and Cain (Billy Flynn) on the show.
The fan felt like the writers could have made Cole leave town and bring him back when they had a story for him. He was brought back to the show and wasted. Some fans feel like Cole’s death was a plot device to have Claire go over the edge.
His death led to more story for Claire. Fans feel like his death was a way to make Claire turn into a villain again.
Furious viewers feel that Cole’s death occurring just as Kyle (Michael Mealor) breaks her heart, is insulting. Cole’s death is being used as a prop to give drama to Claire.
Y&R fans who remember when Cole’s character was important on the show are very furious with the writers’ decision to kill off his character.
His character drove storyline and was linked to core characters. He shouldn’t have been reduced as a prop in someone else’s storyline. Fans felt like they were insulted watching Cole take his last breath.
