Totally. Would have offloaded a character who simply doesn’t work in a way that would have made sense.
They could have had Connor not in the car and had him devastated over the loss of his mother as well as a close male role model. That would have given organic angst for Adam and Sally, as Adam deals with unexpectedly becoming a single father, plus Connor’s resentment of Sally as “replacing his mother.” Victoria could have taken advantage of Adam’s distraction to outmaneuver him at Newman, at least for the short term.
And you would have had great scenes from Elizabeth Hendrickson, as Chloe mourns her friend, as well as potential good stuff for Lauren/Tracey Bregman and Billy/JT.
Add in Ashland’s potential shady involvement in Rey and Chelsea’s deaths; him manipulating Victoria into thinking she’s responsible in order to control her, isolate her, and maintain his grip on power; Adam blaming Victoria for the death of his child’s mother, a sort of echo to the Delia tragedy; Victor and Nikki being torn between their children; Nick stepping in to support Sharon, who blames Victoria for Rey’s death; Sharon and Adam bonding over their shared loss, which causes angst for Sally and Nick; Chance investigating the case to find out the real reason behind his best friend’s death; Diane finding out the truth about Ashland and blackmailing him to do her bidding (tying the story into the Phyllis/Abbotts sphere); and you could have had a story that would’ve rocked Y&R for years.
Instead, we have Chelsea hanging around waiting for a winning story that will never come because JG just can’t quit MCE. She’s a good actress but sometimes you have to kill your darlings for the greater good.