The Young and the Restless spoilers: Claire attacks Nikki, but why?

We’ve been watching The Young and the Restless lately, trying to figure out who Claire (Hayley Erin) is and what she’s planning. Although she’s all smiles and compliments around the Newman family, when she’s alone, she does her share of odd things that make it appear she’s up to something sinister. 

Case in point, on one occasion while in her room, Claire pulled out a folder of pictures and documents all about the Newmans. Then during the week of November 6, she spoke with her Aunt Jordan and informed her she was "making progress." Additionally, Claire confirmed with her aunt that she was committed to seeing some type of plan through. 

Initially given the context clues from the show, we thought that perhaps Victoria (Amelia Heinle) was the target of Claire’s mysterious scheme, but then came the preview clip for The Young and the Restless episodes airing during the week of November 13. 

In the following video, Claire injects a panicked Nikki in the neck with a syringe, leading us to assume that Claire’s actually been obsessed with Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) all of this time.  

Now what is also interesting about this video is the fact that Nikki is heading out of town to visit her older sister Casey Reed (Roberta Leighton). That’s a name that hasn’t been heard on the soap in years, and the character hasn’t been seen since 1998. For those who just started watching The Young and the Restless in the last 25 years, you may not have even known Nikki has a sister. 

We don’t think it’s by coincidence that Casey is being brought up now. Her name being mentioned could signal that Claire’s partner in her plot has a connection to Nikki and Casey’s past. 

With all that being said, we took a dive into Nikki’s history to think of a list of possible enemies that could be fueling Claire in her yet-to-be-revealed scheme. 

Ian Ward
Right away, Ian Ward (Ray Wise) comes to mind. He’s the former cult leader who took advantage of Nikki when she was young and later showed up in Genoa City to torture her and the Newmans. He even used Mariah (Camryn Grimes) in one of his many attempts to undermine the family. The cunning criminal was last spotted on the soap being taken to prison in 2016. 

It’s easy to imagine that Claire’s aunt Jordan fell victim to Ian’s charm and perhaps started a relationship with him. We can envision a scenario in which Jordan helped to raise Claire with Ian’s guidance, and Claire came to see Ian as a father figure. When Nikki and the Newmans had Ian thrown in prison, Jordan could have conspired to get revenge on behalf of Ian and is using Claire to make sure that happens. 

Taking it a step further, is it possible that Claire’s mom was actually in a relationship with Ian and he is Claire’s biological father? Could Claire’s mom and her aunt both have been members of Ian’s cult, and the aunt is fueling a blind rage in Claire to get revenge for her dad?

It’s worth noting that while Ian was introduced in The Young and the Restless after Casey departed the show, given how long Nikki is supposed to have known Ian, Nikki certainly would have told him all about her sister. 

Nick Reed
Growing up, both Casey and Nikki suffered abuse at the hands of their father Nick Reed (Quinn Redeker). In the late 1970s, Nikki wound up killing him in self-defense. 

While to our recollection it was never previously mentioned, we have to wonder if Nick Reed had an affair on Nikki and Casey’s mother, and he fathered a younger daughter with someone else. If this were to be true, it’s possible that Nikki’s could-be sister could have been the mother of Claire and the half-sister of Jordan. 

To help paint the picture for this theory, you should consider that Nick Reed fathered another daughter, but didn’t assault her. He could have presented as the kindest person to her, so when she found out he was murdered by Nikki, this could-be-daughter harbored resentment for Nikki that she passed along to Claire and Jordan before she died. 

Dylan McAvoy
Then there’s always the possibility that Claire and her aunt aren’t connected to Nikki directly, but rather to her oldest son Dylan (Steve Burton). 

He’s been out of Genoa City for years now because he’s been hiding in witness protection. Viewers may recall that he was working undercover to expose a notorious crime boss named Luthor Fisk. Upon Luthor being locked away in prison, it was feared that his associates would later come after Dylan. Is it possible that Claire is related to Fisk or one of these dangerous associates, and Claire is targeting Nikki to lure him out of hiding? 

All in all, we still have to wait and see what Claire is up to and what her backstory is. As it pertains to the clip of her injecting Nikki, for all we know, Claire could be sticking Nikki with an EpiPen after the Newman matriarch had an allergic reaction. 

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.