In the last several months, The Young and the Restless’ Nate (Sean Dominic) has made it no secret that he’s unapologetically ambitious when it comes to business. He was even willing to throw Devon (Bryton James) and Lily (Christel Khalil) under the bus to get ahead, and they’re the only relatives he has in town at the moment shy of Devon’s baby.
Once Nate landed at Newman Media as the CEO, his taste for power only grew as he was emboldened by Victoria (Amelia Heinle). Yes the two are in a hot and heavy romance, but we’re referring specifically to Victoria sidelining Nick (Joshua Morrow) as the COO of Newman Enterprises and promoting the former doctor.
Even as the COO of Newman Enterprises, Nate still wants more. He’s said on numerous occasions lately that he hopes to one day run Newman side-by-side with Victoria. Effectively, that would mean he wants to be the co-CEO of the company. Unfortunately for Nate, he has a couple of roadblocks preventing that from happening.
For starters, it wasn’t that long ago when Victor (Eric Braeden) bluntly told Nate that while he admires the new COO’s drive, there will never be a non-Newman running the company The Mustache built from the ground up.
So even if Nate popped the question to Victoria and the duo got married, making Nate an in-law, there’s a slim-to-none chance that Victor would change his mind on the issue. (Considering what happened with Ashland Locke, we can’t say we blame the patriarch.)
Besides, Victor’s unlikely approval, the most pressing obstacle for Nate in his quest to be co-CEO is Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). The position is already filled by the Newman matriarch, and she seemingly has no plans of stepping down from the role. Plus, while Victoria may "fire" her brother, there’s no way she’d make a move to oust her mother. Even if the Newman heir tried, Victor would never allow it.
With all of that being said, could there be a situation in which Nate plots to force Nikki out of the job? Perhaps.
If Nate were going to try and push Nikki out, he would have to be rather smart about how he went about it. If any Newmans were to find out he was actively trying to plot against her, he’d certainly feel the full weight of the family come crashing down on him.
Nate could always try to outshine Nikki at work. He could attempt to bring more lucrative business to the company in an effort to prove he’s more of a valuable asset than Mrs. Victor Newman. However, it’s not likely there are any deals large enough to make Victor want to change the leadership at Newman Enterprises.
So maybe Nate tries targeting Nikki by focusing on her multiple sclerosis. Long-time viewers know she was diagnosed with the condition back in 2013. While she hasn’t had flare-ups from the disease for quite some time, in the past when she did, they were usually brought on by stress. Additionally, the flare-ups would usually sideline her from business ventures.
Knowing that, is Nate willing to help create an overly stressful work environment for Nikki? For example, he could start making sure she misses important meetings, lets big deals fall through the crack or even sabotage her in more dubious ways, all in an effort to get her job.
Again, Nate used to be a practicing physician and may assume he knows how to press Nikki on this health issue just long enough to accomplish his goal.
Now we should point out, this is a very sinister plan that would cause lots of drama. Frankly, it’s something the old Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) or Bold and the Beautiful’s Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown Pelzer) would do.
However, Nate’s ambition appears to be taking him to some manipulative places these days, so we won’t completely rule out the possibility.
If he takes this course of action he may find himself as Genoa City’s top villain, assuming the role from the likes of Adam (Mark Grossman) and Tucker (Trevor St. John).
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
