How The Young And The Restless' Neil Accidentally Put Hilary In A Coma
"The Young and the Restless" is one of the longest-running soap operas in American history. Since its premiere in 1973, "The Young and the Restless" has produced over 12,500 episodes. After so many episodes, even the most dedicated fans are bound to forget a few plot lines from time to time.
Hilary Curtis, played by Mishael Morgan, was first introduced to the show in 2013. She started out as an assistant to Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard) and later went on to fall in love with Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) and had an affair with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John). Morgan eventually left the show in 2018 when Hilary was killed off. "It is with a heavy heart that I announce my departure from Y&R," she wrote on Instagram. "There were many factors that led to this decision, but ultimately, five years just felt right to me."
Let's take a look back at one of Hilary's most dramatic storylines — when she fell into a coma.
How did Hilary end up in a coma?
In 2015, shortly after marrying Devon, Hilary set off on a hike. There, she bumped into Neil, who showed her a video of Devon with a sex worker. Then, she ran off and ended up falling down a cliff. Many thought she was dead, but it turned out, something else had happened to the newlywed. We soon discovered that Neil had actually kidnapped Hilary and was keeping her on an IV in a coma.
Neil hired Dr. Simon Neville (Michael E. Knight) to keep her alive — and failed to tell Devon what had happened. According to Michael Fairman TV, Mishael Morgan announced her pregnancy in April 2015. At the time, it was confirmed that her character, Hilary, would not have a pregnancy storyline. Morgan was then absent from the show thanks to her character's coma. Daytime Confidential also reported that the show hired a body double to stand in for Morgan during the coma. So, we can assume that Hilary's coma was probably designed to keep Morgan off the show during her maternity leave. She returned to work on the show in October 2015 after the birth of her son and her first episode back aired in November. "Thx everyone 4 being so patient, now it's time to resurrect Hil," Morgan wrote on Twitter at the time.
This is certainly one of the most dramatic things to ever happen on "The Young and the Restless" — but what happened next?
What happened after Hilary woke up from her coma?
Mishael Morgan gave birth to her son Niam in August 2015, and soon after, Hilary woke up from her coma. She had been asleep for two months. Naturally, plenty of drama ensued.
Upon awakening, it turned out that Hilary had forgotten her marriage to Devon. All that she could remember were her feelings for Neil. Neil was thrilled to have gotten away with trying to sabotage Hilary and Devon's marriage, while Devon was distraught. It turns out that we can thank Morgan for this dramatic storyline. As the actor told Global TV, she had come up with the idea of Neil kidnapping her while chatting with Christel Khalil on set. "Someone came up and said, 'Mishael, what did you say?' And I said, 'Oh, I was just thinking that it would be funny if I woke up and I forgot that I was married to Devon, and maybe I thought I was married to Neil, and he's the one who kidnapped me,'" she recalled. "Then they ended up doing it!"
Unsurprisingly, things went downhill for Hilary and Devon after her memory loss and the pair ended up bickering about their marriage and their business. Hilary eventually began an affair with Neil. When Devon found out, he asked for a divorce. Luckily, Hilary's memories of her love for Devon came flooding back and, for a while at least, the pair seemed stronger than ever.