Y&R: Mariah Copeland’s Spiral Threatens to Destroy Abby Newman and Devon Winters

Y&R Spoilers: Will Mariah Copeland Kidnap Dominic Winters or Will Ian Ward Strike First?

MARIAH COPELAND’S TERRIFYING SPIRAL HAS FANS BRACING FOR THE WORST ON THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

TL;DR: Mariah Copeland is spiraling in isolation on The Young and the Restless, obsessing over Dominic Winters while Ian Ward pushes her toward a devastating plan. Promos tease Dominic goes missing, and Christine Blair is flagged to help someone “in big trouble.”

Mariah Copeland Is Breaking Down in a Motel Room

Something is very, very wrong with Mariah Copeland.

The January 23 episode of The Young and the Restless showed Mariah isolated in a motel room near Genoa City, and what viewers witnessed was deeply unsettling. She’s not just sad. She’s not just confused. She’s spiraling into full-blown obsession over Dominic Winters, the child she carried as a surrogate back in 2021.

Mariah was shown doodling Dominic’s name. Looking at surveillance photos she took of him with his parents at a park cafe. She even called Abby Newman and then hung up without saying a single word.

That’s not the behavior of someone who has moved on. That’s the behavior of someone on the verge of doing something she can never take back.

Is Ian Ward Real or Just in Mariah’s Head?

Here’s where things get complicated. Ian Ward keeps appearing to Mariah Copeland, and the show is deliberately playing it both ways.

Is he actually there in the flesh? Or is Mariah hallucinating the man who bought her as a newborn in 1991 and later drugged her into an invalid marriage in 2014?

The evidence leans toward Ian being alive. After he was shot in January 2025 during a confrontation with Victor Newman, Ian was presumed dead. But here’s the thing — he opened his eyes while being transported away. Classic soap opera survival setup.

Now he’s back in Mariah’s orbit, pressuring her to stick to a “plan” that would blow up Abby and Devon Winters’ lives. When Mariah wavered and called the plan wrong, Ian pushed harder. He told her she “can’t back out now” and that “life will change for the better on the other side of this.”

That’s not comfort. That’s coercion. And Mariah Copeland is too fragile right now to see the difference.

Have thoughts on Mariah’s spiral? Write to the editor at amber@soapoperamagazine.com and let us know where you think this storyline is headed!

Does Dominic Winters Go Missing?

Yes. At least according to the “Next Week on Y&R” promo that aired alongside the January 23 episode.

The tease shows Abby Newman and Devon Winters panicking because Dominic is missing. This lines up with the CBS episode guide language flagging “trouble on the horizon” for the couple.

Dominic was recently aged up with young actor Ethan Ray Clark taking over the role in late January 2026. That’s not a coincidence. An older Dominic can interact, can speak, can be part of the emotional fallout in ways a toddler simply cannot.

The stakes just got astronomically higher for everyone involved.

Why Is Mariah Copeland So Obsessed With Dominic?

Because she never fully processed what happened to her.

Mariah Copeland carried Dominic as a surrogate for Abby and Devon. But during that pregnancy, she was kidnapped by Ben “Stitch” Rayburn and held captive for weeks. During that terrifying ordeal, she nicknamed her unborn child “Bowie” and formed a trauma bond that clearly never healed.

She gave birth to Dominic on August 30, 2021, and was supposed to move on. She has a wife in Tessa Porter. She has an adopted daughter named Aria. She built a life.

But that trauma bond with “Bowie” never went away. And now Ian Ward is weaponizing it, twisting Mariah’s unresolved pain into something dangerous.

What’s Next for Mariah, Abby, Devon, and Tessa?

Executive Producer Josh Griffith has teased a “big mystery” involving Devon and Abby that ties into Mariah, Tessa, and Daniel Romalotti. He specifically mentioned that Christine Blair will need to put on her “lawyer hat” to help someone who is “in big trouble.”

Could this mean Mariah Copeland ends up facing kidnapping charges? Don’t be surprised if Christine mounts a diminished capacity defense based on Ian Ward’s decades of manipulation and Mariah’s documented surrogacy trauma.

Given Mariah’s history with Ian, this has all the makings of a legal nightmare. And the emotional fallout? The Teriah marriage may not survive this. Tessa has been kept in the dark while her wife spirals, and that kind of betrayal cuts deep.

What do YOU think — will Mariah go through with it, or will Ian take matters into his own hands? Drop your predictions in the comments below!

WATCH THIS:

@soapoperamag There is no diabolical daddy who does diabolical daddy better than my favorite diabolical daddy! Team Victor, are you still with me? Or, are will you be switching sides after this? #YR ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine

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