The new year may bring more than a few surprises on The Young and the Restless, perhaps even topping the jaw-dropping bombshells of 2023. One of the first big shocks of 2024 may be Adam (Mark Grossman) coming to Victoria’s (Amelia Heinle) rescue. That’s right, Adam may turn out helping Victoria, and as loyal viewers know, the siblings pretty much loathe one another.
Before we go deeper into that scenario, let’s revisit the Claire (Hayley Erin) saga. When she and Jordan (Colleen Zenk) held the Newmans captive in Oregon, Claire was crushed to learn that her great-aunt lied to her for her entire life by saying that Victoria and Cole (J. Eddie Peck) didn’t want her. When in actuality, Victoria and Cole assumed their daughter died and never knew she survived.
The news shook Claire to her core as she found out this devastating truth as she already held the Newmans captive, poisoned them and caused Nikki to break her sobriety in a revenge plot hatched by Jordan.
Fast forward to the present after Jordan’s been arrested and Claire has been placed in a mental rehabilitation facility instead of prison, and Victoria and Cole are determined to assist Claire in getting better, in addition to bonding with her now that a DNA test has proven she’s their daughter.
Unfortunately for Victoria, it doesn’t look like her attempts to bond with Claire will be easy. In fact, in the episode airing on January 4, Victoria sits with a sleeping Claire and talks to her child about wanting to be there for her and support her.
When Claire wakes up, she lashes out at her mother to leave the mental rehabilitation facility and never come back. Victoria’s first-born rants that she recalls the horror on Victoria’s face when Claire first professed to being her daughter and the fear in her eyes thinking Claire and Jordan may kill the Newmans. Claire can’t shake those expressions from her mind and can’t see how Victoria sincerely wants to bond with her, so Claire tells her mother to leave her alone for good.
Now what Claire has yet to figure out, is that Victoria is fully committed to developing a relationship with her. Victoria has no plans to give up on her child. With that being said, Victoria is likely in need of some assistance to make some progress in her relationship with Claire, and Adam may be the key.
Again, Adam is the original black sheep of the Newmans and has done some pretty awful things in his past that have upset his father and siblings. Plus, he’s actually killed before. He more than anyone can relate to Claire feeling like an outsider in the family, one who doesn’t belong. So will he attempt to bond with his new niece to bring her into the Newman fold? Furthermore, will he persuade her to give Victoria a chance?
We’d like to say yes. Sure Adam and Victoria on any given day are like oil and water, but prior to her announcing she was taking a leave of absence to focus on Claire, Adam seemed genuinely sympathetic to his sister. With Victor (Eric Braeden) heavily emphasizing the importance of family these days, Adam may feel the urge to help her build a solid relationship with her child, and convince Claire not to shut her out.
Not for nothing, it would be nice to see Victoria and Adam getting along for once and her giving Adam the benefit of the doubt.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
