Alive and Unwell: Ian Ward on The Young and the Restless

On The Young and the Restless, events at the Newman ranch panned out just like a horror movie from the Halloween franchise: The psycho was killed, or so they thought.

The Young and the Restless: It was the best of times

What started as quite a wonderful turn of events for the Newman family when both of their archnemeses died rapidly disintegrated and became a nightmare. Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) had passed away after drinking poisoned tea (Well, it was an overdose of sleeping pills, and after you finished reading this, you may think, “Here we go again”).

The Newman family was finally rid of one villain from the pair of crazed enemies, but there was still one to go, Ian Ward (Ray Wise). Victor's security team — and I use the word security rather loosely — located Ian and brought him to the ranch. And here The Young and the Restless became a horror movie.

After listening to Ian lie about being a changed man one too many times, he was dragged to his feet out of a chair by Mortenson (John Rushing). While the two men clutched each other, Ian grabbed Mortenson's gun from a shoulder holster. Now, anyone hired in a security role and licensed to carry concealed weapons should also have training on retaining control of the said weapon and have some basic understanding of hand-to-hand combat. A competent security team member would have grappled with Ian, thrown him to the ground, restrained him, or just choked him out and rendered the threat over with some plastic handcuffs or simple duct tape. Remember, silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

It was the worst of times.

Ian, now in possession of a gun, called for Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) to come down and join the festivities. Imagine his delight when she brought Claire (Hayley Erin), Victoria (Amelia Heinle) with her. After Adam was summoned, Ian decided the party could start. For some reason, Ian was going to allow Michael to leave, but he chose to stay to show loyalty to Victor.

Victor was quite prepared to sacrifice himself for his family and approached Ian. While the two told each other neither would be getting out alive, Ian shot Victor in the stomach. Thinking he was down for the count, Ian was taken by surprise when Victor attacked him a few minutes later. As the two men wrestled on the couch, panic ensued, and the gun went off again. This time, it was Ian who was wounded and bleeding.

Victor's injuries, while bad, are not fatal, as the bullet went right through him, missing his vital organs. As for Ian, he was shot in the stomach as well, but no one bothered to look at how bad it was. We just saw blood and Ian’s signals of defeat. What have we learned from watching horror movies? When shot, you must follow it up with another, um… fatal shot, and maybe another for good measure, a few more hits, or they simply will not stay down and out. The Young and the Restless is no different.

When Chance arrived, he asked the medics if Ian made it, and they told him he died. No one shed a tear as Ian's body was taken away on a gurney into an awaiting ambulance. As the Newman family reeled in shock at the turn of events, Nikki and Victor headed to the hospital in another ambulance.

Just as Victor said that the nightmare had ended, as Jordan and Ian were dead, the other ambulance had unexpected activity. Ian suddenly gasped a breath of air, and his eyes opened. Will Ian finish what he started? When he arrives at the same hospital that Victor and Nikki are headed to, will he once again disappear like a wraith, only leaving blood-soaked clothing and naught but a threat?

Only time will tell on The Young and the Restless but we know Ian isn't dead, and for all we know, Jordan is about to awaken from her chemical slumber as well. In fact, the last we heard, Victor’s competent security team was taking her body to the morgue. Is the match that was made in hell about to be reunited? A Nightmare on Genoa City Streets is just a writer's click away…

Watch new episodes of The Young and the Restless on weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.