Any fan of The Young and the Restless probably predicted Victor’s (Eric Braeden) children getting in line one way or the other with his latest requests. He’s been pressing Victoria (Amelia Heinle) for weeks to return to Newman Enterprises to run the company alongside Nick (Joshua Morrow). Although she initially denied her father's wishes, wanting to spend time with Claire (Hayley) and be there when her youngest two children met their big sister, The Mustache wore his daughter down and she’s headed back to work.
Then there’s Adam (Mark Grossman). Victor pitched to him that his son return to Newman Media on a "temporary basis" to replace Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) as she continues her recovery. Adam was naturally skeptical about his father’s motives and wanted to know what the Newman patriarch was up to. The younger Newman even went so far as to tell Victor he was unwilling to step in at Newman Media until Victor revealed his hand.
Remarkably, Adam got more information out of Victor than the rest of the Newmans, as Victor revealed he purchased Glissade and wants Adam to be ruthless in promoting the brand to crush the competition. Adam isn’t an idiot and realized that Victor is gunning for Jabot and Jack (Peter Bergman), which Nikki wouldn’t dare do if she were in charge of Newman Media. Despite being hesitant to take on the role, Adam also gives into his dad’s request.
In The Young and the Restless episode airing on July 16, both Victoria and Adam make their returns official. Victoria shares the news with Nick before they’re summoned to Newman Enterprises.
Adam tells Victor he’ll once again be CEO of Newman Media as long as Victor accepts his conditions. Not only does Adam refuse to fabricate stories or get too involved in mudslinging with Jabot, but he also won’t do anything to hurt Jack’s family. (Considering Jack and Adam are friends, we’ll applaud Adam’s attempts at setting boundaries.)
Victor shockingly agrees to the stipulations, and when he meets with his three oldest children, he’s ecstatic to have them all working for the family business again. However, they’re all skeptical of Victor’s actions and question his motives. Additionally, Victoria raises the matter of what happens to Adam when Nikki returns to work, and Adam chimes in wanting to know the same thing. In true Victor style, he brushes them off and tells them he’s just happy his children are working under one roof.
We aren’t rocket scientists or psychics, but we don’t have to be to see this family collaboration won’t pan out like Victor envisioned. Of course, there’s always the chance that another round of infighting could ensue between the siblings, mainly Victoria and Adam who are like oil and water.
However, this time we predict the trio working together, spelling trouble for Victor and his plan. We can envision Victoria, Nick and Adam coming to the realization that Victor's vendetta against Jack is going too far and bound to cost too much in collateral damage. Is it possible the second generation of Newmans will actively sabotage Victor's efforts? Would they then enlist Michael's (Christian LeBlanc) help in an effort to protect themselves from Victor's wrath if he feels betrayed? Certainly, these things could happen, and perhaps they should as we think Victor is headed toward quite the downfall.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
