Young and the Restless: Diane Kidnapped Again – Another Shocking Abduction Rocks Y&R

Young and the Restless delivers Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) finally starting to put her life back together because she was kidnapped by crazy Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk) and held captive by Dr. Laurence Markham (Jere Burns). Plus, Diane nearly lost Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman).

Things seem really good now, but are they really? Is the danger done? We’re going to talk about whether Markham comes back for Diane given how obsessed that he’s gotten with her. Let’s talk about whether we’re about to get yet another kidnapping on Y&R.

So, we’ve got Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) absolutely thrilled that his mom Diane is home and she and Jack reconciled and he should be released from the hospital fairly soon after surviving Patty’s two different attempts to kill him. But sadly, there might be another horrifying twist coming for Diane and Jack.

Young and the Restless: Diane Plays Markham

After the Beyond the Gates crossover, that’s when we found out Diane was being held captive by Dr. Markham, who had been paid by Patty to keep her. And while she was in his home, Diane was manipulating Markham into thinking she was the model patient so that she could get the upper hand on him and get away.

We also saw Diane asking Markham if there was a word to describe when a patient falls for their therapist. And the creepy doc said it’s a natural part of therapy. I don’t think it is, and it definitely shouldn’t be. And then Markham told Diane that it can be a positive part of the process.

I’m positive that he is lying and a creep. So Markham also told Diane that he was developing strong feelings for her. The difference is that she was playing Markham, but his feelings for Diane I think are very real. And Markham even called Patty to tell her that things had changed and they needed to change their plan.

So, it sounded to me like Markham didn’t want to hurt Diane. And I definitely think Markham wanted to keep Diane, but it sounds like Patty probably had an endgame of eliminating Diane and she was lying to Jack about Diane staying indefinitely in a mental hospital because she was never in one.

Markham Fell Hard for Diane on Y&R

But I absolutely think if Diane hadn’t escaped that Markham might have kept her captive indefinitely. Thankfully Diane tricked him into getting sedatives to help her sleep and she was able to drug Markham until he passed out and then she and Kyle got away from his house and his dogs.

While Diane was flirting with Markham as part of her escape plan, that unfortunately had the shrink falling head over heels. He probably had a whole twisted fantasy in his head about Diane. Much like Patty had convinced herself that she and Jack were going to remarry and live this happily ever after.

I’m sure Markham thought Diane had real and legit feelings for him. And if Markham was picturing that Diane would willingly stay with him and they could start a real relationship, that might still be in his head. And it sounds insane, but I think Dr. Markham is insane.

If that really even is his name. I’m not entirely convinced that’s the real shrink that treated Patty. He might be some nutcase who’s pretending to be the real Dr. Markham. And the shrink is either dead or held captive somewhere.

Young and the Restless: Markham’s Obsession and Kidnapping Risks

You know, this Markham person may not be real. We’ll see. But after Diane drugged Markham and she and Kyle got out of there, they came home and found Jack stabbed and bleeding out. And then, of course, Patty claimed Diane attacked them both. And the cops, who are morons, apparently, without asking Kyle any questions or checking to see if Diane had an alibi, arrested her, and DA Christine Williams (Lauralee Bell) talked about them having evidence against Diane. All they had was Patty’s statement. That’s it. Nothing else.

A known violent psychopath who tried to kill Jack before said somebody else stabbed him. His wife. His wife that he still loves that the whole family says didn’t do it. There were no fingerprints on the knife because Patty wore a glove. There was no other physical evidence. And if Detective Burrow (Matt Cohen) had asked Kyle, he would have said he and Diane had walked in the door together moments before they found him.

It was all so sloppy. And with Patty now locked up and being denied bail, Diane and Jack should be able to relax. But with Markham now missing and I’m assuming still very much obsessed with Diane, she has good reason to be worried. And she is. And I absolutely think that she’s right to be, which she was talking to Kyle and Jack about.

Is Markham Plotting on Y&R?

They don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Right now, nobody knows where Markham is, and of course that makes Diane nervous. But Kyle and Jack seem to think that the guy is gone. And they basically told Diane that it’d be stupid for Markham to stay around in town, and it would be.

The guys figure that the doctor’s long gone trying to avoid Patty, trying to avoid the cops, trying to stay out of jail. But I wonder, is Markham really gone? First of all, I haven’t seen any confirmation that Jere Burns wrapped his run on Young and the Restless.

Second, it would be a really random, non-confrontational exit for him just to slide out of town and forget about Diane after Markham was so hot for her. Now, I will say that fans are really ticked off about all the kidnappings we’ve had on Y&R.

This year alone, we had Mariah Copeland snatching Dominic and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) fake kidnapping Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) and the twins. Patty kidnapped Jack. Then Patty kidnapped Diane. Then before that, we had Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) snatching people in Vegas, multiple people.

Young and Restless Fans Sick of Kidnappings

The kidnapping thing’s getting old and I absolutely hate to think Josh Griffith would do another kidnapping. But based on what we’re seeing with Markham being mysteriously off the grid, you know, there’s good reason. So, we got Diane scared and my Spidey senses are tingling that Markham might kidnap Diane with a plan to run off with her.

With CBS still in the hiring process to nail down a new writer, we’ve got more of his writing yet to come. CBS daytime said they’re aiming to have the new headwriter in place for the start of season 54, which is October. We are still halfway through July, y’all. So, buckle up for more of Josh Griffith’s nonsense.

And that means we may see Markham pop back up when Diane least expects it and he may snatch her up again. We’ve got Kyle bargaining with crazy Patty this week to take down Victor and to blame him for what she did. So, Patty might also throw Markham under the bus. If the manhunt for him heats up, we could see Markham getting desperate and he may decide to make a grab for Diane before leaving Genoa City for good.

Young and the Restless: Markham Catches Diane Off-Guard

I guess maybe she shouldn’t have flirted so hard trying to make Markham fall for her because it seems like he did. Plus, we’ve got Kyle focused on taking Victor down and getting revenge. So, he’s looking in another direction. And of course, Jack is still in the hospital. We don’t know when he’s going to get out.

And even when he’s home, he’s likely going to be either bedridden or stuck on the couch for a few weeks because of the brutal stabbing. So, Markham could probably catch Diane alone, maybe at the house, maybe on the way to the hospital to visit Jack, maybe on the way somewhere.

And then Markham makes a move. Hopefully with Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland) and Kyle moving back into the mansion and Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) also in town, Diane won’t be alone too often. But it only takes a moment for a creep like Markham to grab somebody. And because Genoa City is the kidnapping capital of the soap world, Diane may get kidnapped again if Markham shows back up. We’ll see.