Y&R’s Lauren Fenmore Got Voted an Honorary Abbott, and Somebody Needs to Check With Michael Baldwin First

LAUREN FENMORE’S NEW ABBOTT MEMBERSHIP COMES WITH A VICTOR NEWMAN PROBLEM

TL;DR: Lauren Fenmore got voted in as an honorary Abbott by Ashley Abbott and Traci Abbott like it was the easiest unanimous decision in Genoa City history. Cute moment, except her husband Michael Baldwin has spent years being Victor Newman’s most reliable errand boy, and the Abbotts and Victor do not exactly share a group chat.

A Sweet Moment That Nobody Thought All the Way Through

Lauren Fenmore sat in the Abbott mansion, asked if she was officially one of them now, and got a full unanimous vote from Ashley Abbott and Traci Abbott on the spot. Sweet. Sentimental. Exactly the kind of moment Young and the Restless does best. Except nobody in that room stopped to think about what this actually means for the man she goes home to every night.

Lauren’s husband is Michael Baldwin, and Michael has spent years being Victor Newman‘s go-to fixer whenever Victor needs something handled quietly and legally adjacent. That is not a small detail. That is a structural problem. Lauren got adopted into a family whose entire existence is defined by not being Newmans, and her husband still answers when Victor calls.

Got a wild theory about how Michael Baldwin reacts to his wife’s new Abbott status, or think Victor Newman has thoughts? Send it to us at amber@soapoperamagazine.com, and we might publish it!

Michael Baldwin Did Not Sign Up to Be an Honorary Abbott’s Plus One

Here is the part that makes this genuinely funny once you sit with it. Michael did not get a vote. He was not in the room. He is going to come home from doing whatever Victor needed handled this week and find out his wife has a new family identity that puts her firmly on the opposite side of a line he has spent his entire career straddling. Lauren gets a sentimental Abbott mansion moment. Michael gets to explain to Victor why his wife is suddenly cheering for the other team, assuming Victor even notices, which he absolutely will, because Victor notices everything that could eventually be useful.

This is the kind of storyline detail that sounds small until you actually think through the fallout. Lauren has been part of Genoa City long enough that fans know exactly how complicated her history runs, and an Abbott induction is a fun beat, but it does not exist in a vacuum. If Victor ever needs Michael for something involving the Abbotts specifically, this became personal in a way it was not before. Somebody needs to check in with Michael before this becomes a real problem instead of a cute afternoon at the mansion.

Do you think Michael Baldwin is fine with his wife’s new Abbott status, or is this about to cause real friction with Victor Newman? Tell us what you think happens next.

Team Abbott or Team “Somebody Warn Victor”?

Is Lauren all the way in with her new family, or is Michael one favor away from a loyalty crisis? Head over to our Facebook page and tell us which side wins when the Newmans and the Abbotts collide through this marriage.

WATCH THIS:

@soapoperamag GIVE US BACK PAUL! Genoa City is lawless right now and they need THE BIG GUNS. Enough flighty cops. Enough with having no detectives. IT'S TIME TO BRING BACK PAUL WILLIAMS. Whatever beef Y&R has with Doug Davidson MUST end. Genoa City NEEDS Paul. Patty-Cakes NEEDS Paul. And we THE FANS deserve Paul! #YoungandtheRestless #BringBackPaulWilliams ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine