Y&R FANS RIOT AS COLE’S PATHETIC DEATH EXPOSES WRITERS’ CRIMINAL WASTE OF LEGACY CHARACTER

Writers Kill Off Cole Howard After Giving Him NOTHING to Do—Fans Demand Justice!

The rage is REAL, soap fans! Cole Howard‘s death from Legionnaires’ disease has exposed what might be the most egregious waste of a legacy character in Y&R history. And viewers? They’re NOT holding back!

After bringing J. Eddie Peck back to the canvas in November 2023 for the first time since 1999, you’d think the writers would have SOMETHING planned for this iconic character. Wrong! Dead wrong. Literally.

Decades of History? IGNORED!

Here’s what has fans seeing red: Cole Howard had RICH history with practically everyone in Genoa City. This is the man who once thought Victor Newman was his father! The guy who had complicated relationships with Nikki Newman, married Ashley Abbott after Victoria—the drama potential was ENDLESS!

But how many scenes did Cole share with Victor during his return? ZERO. Zip. Nada. Not ONE confrontation about their twisted past!

Nikki? The woman he once romanced when he worked as a stable hand? They might as well have been strangers!

Instead, Cole existed in a bubble with only Victoria and Claire. That’s it. No exploration of his complex history, no dramatic confrontations, no acknowledgment of the decades of story just sitting there BEGGING to be used!

From Leading Man to Disposable Prop

What’s even more insulting? Cole wasn’t given an actual storyline beyond “Oh look, Claire is really my daughter who was kidnapped by my psycho aunt Jordan!” Once that revelation played out and Jordan’s story wrapped up… boom. Legionnaires’ disease. Dead.

A 14-year viewer put it perfectly: “Josh Griffith didn’t give me a reason to care about Cole’s relationship with Victoria.” They went on to say that all the good Cole/Victoria scenes happened when Heather Tom played Victoria in the 90s. This version with Amelia Heinle? “No romance, no tension, no drama between couples these days.”

Ouch. But also… TRUE!

Budget Cuts or Creative Bankruptcy?

Fans are speculating (and honestly, it makes sense) that this was all about money. One Reddit user suggested, “I guess they couldn’t afford to keep both Cane and Cole.”

But here’s the thing—if you can’t afford to properly use a character, why bring them back at all? They could have left Cole in Oxford, door open for a future return when they actually had STORY for him!

Instead? They brought him back, wasted J. Eddie Peck‘s considerable talent, gave him NOTHING to work with, then killed him off with a random disease. No dramatic death scene. No proper goodbye. Just… gone.

The Real Reason Cole Died? To Make Claire Go Dark!

And here’s where it gets REALLY insulting. Fan theories suggest Cole’s ONLY purpose was to die so Claire could “unhinge” when Kyle inevitably cheats with Audra.

So let me get this straight—they brought back a legacy character with 30+ years of history just to be a plot device for Claire’s villain turn? They couldn’t think of ANY other way to push Claire to the dark side?

One fan comment nailed it: “Cole has served as a prop to Claire’s story. His love helped her heal, now his death is coming when her bf is about to crush her heart. Darkness follows.”

That’s not storytelling. That’s just lazy!

What Could Have Been…

Imagine if the writers had actually USED Cole’s history:

• Explosive confrontations with Victor about the past
• Tension with Nikki over their former romance
• Awkward encounters with Ashley (remember, he was married to her too!)
• Building an actual romantic relationship with Victoria that viewers could invest in
• Exploring how he felt about Victor once believing he was his son

But no. We got bland conversations about Claire and then… death by random disease.

Fans who remember the 90s when Cole was actually important are especially furious. This wasn’t just any character—this was someone who drove major storylines, who had complex relationships with multiple core characters, who MATTERED.

Now? Reduced to furniture. A prop for someone else’s story.

The message from viewers is clear: J. Eddie Peck deserved better. Cole Howard deserved better. And longtime fans who remember when this character actually meant something? They DEFINITELY deserved better than this insulting waste of soap opera history!

Will the writers learn from this debacle? Will they stop treating legacy characters like disposable props?

Don’t hold your breath, soap fans. But at least we can all unite in our fury over this absolute waste of potential. Because if we don’t call out lazy writing when we see it, who will?

Don’t miss our latest The Young and the Restless spoilers for more twists and turns.