Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
State Of Mind: Upset by Diane (Susan Walters, l.) and Jack (Peter Bergman)’s lack of faith in her mental health, Ashley (Eileen Davidson) undertakes a “painful journey”.
Although mounting evidence points to Tucker’s version of what happened between him and Ashley in Paris being accurate, she holds fast to her belief that she is right about his violent reaction in that bistro — and she is becoming increasingly intent on convincing those around her of that. “Ashley is determined to prove that Tucker is gaslighting her,” says Eileen Davidson (Ashley). “The more she is proved wrong about the situation [only] makes her more determined to prove she is right about what happened in Paris.” However, allows Davidson, “She is starting to feel a bit worried about her point of view and needs to be right about what happened or it might mean she’s not 100 percent okay.”
While Ashley waits in the Abbot living room with her brother and Diane for Traci to arrive with a new piece of information about the events in Paris, she senses that they already know what Traci is going to say. “Jack and Diane do not do a very good job of hiding their uneasiness when confronting Ashley so she immediately picks up on an uncomfortable vibe,” notes Davidson. “Ashley considers it very patronizing that she wouldn’t notice the strange glances between Jack and Diane. The stakes are getting higher for her the more she senses people are doubting her mental health.”
Ashley demands to know what their sister is going to report. After Diane urges Jack to be upfront with Ashley, he explains that Traci returned to Paris to talk with the rest of the waitstaff at the bistro and they all reported that they never witnessed or heard anything out of the ordinary with regard to Tucker’s behavior that day. “Ashley is hurt that Traci questioned the café staff behind her back and shared this information with Jack,” Davidson says. “She thought Traci had her back and believed her. This only makes Ashley stand her ground and tries to get her family to see that Tucker has paid off the waitstaff and in turn has manipulated her family to question Ashley’s accounts about what happened.”
Traci shows up and relays that she offered to pay more money to the bistro employees to admit they’d been bribed by Tucker. However, Traci adds, there wasn’t a single taker. When Ashley rationalizes that perhaps Tucker had threatened them, Traci maintains that no one appeared fearful or intimidated. This is a devastating blow to Ashley, who understands that this will likely make her kin yet more apt to think she’s losing her grip on reality. Jack and Traci do their best to convince Ashley that their concerns are coming from a place of love without judgement, but, sighs Davidson, “Despite her family’s pleas, Ashley feels let down and betrayed that her family would not only take Tucker’s side but also question her sanity which is a very fragile place for Ashley based on her past.”
A rattled Ashley insists to her loved ones that she’s giving a factual and faithful account of what transpired in Paris during her and Tucker’s honeymoon, then decides to take matters into her own hands and talk directly to her ex, even though past conversations between them have been decidedly contentious. “Unfortunately, things do not get better for Ashley when she decides to confront Tucker,” hints Davidson. “We will see her begin a painful journey with a questionable outcome.”
