It’s almost easy for The Young and the Restless fans to forget that before Clarie (Erin Hayley) and Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) launched their plan of attack against Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and the rest of the Newmans, one of the biggest end-of-the-year storylines was Victor (Eric Braeden) faking his health decline to test the loyalty of his children and employees. A test that Nate (Sean Dominic) ultimately failed and resulted in his firing as the Newman Enterprises COO.
Following his ousting, Nate finally agreed with Mamie (Veronic Redd) that it was time to return to Chancellor-Winters. However, given the bad blood between Nate, Lily (Christel Khalil) and Devon (Bryton James), the pathway to this corporate family reunion is a difficult one.
Despite Nate professing to be a changed man and Mamie rallying behind him, most recently during a Thanksgiving gathering, Lily and Devon have insisted they need time. Furthermore, Devon has been adamant that he wants to first hear Victor’s side of the story about why Nate was fired.
Well in the episode airing on December 5, it starts to look as if Nate’s return to Chancellor-Winters is unlikely.
For starters, he sits with Lily and inquires about the status of the decision surrounding his employment. Although he’s initially polite, he becomes upset when she informs him no decision was made and Devon is preparing to talk to Victor about Nate’s dismissal. Nate believes Victor won’t have a glowing recommendation about him and will probably recommend Devon not rehire Nate.
The former doctor is absolutely correct because, in the same episode, Devon speaks with Victor at the Newman Ranch and Victor pretty much warns Devon about working with his cousin. The Mustache calls Nate "ruthless" and declares he’s not to be trusted. Devon takes the warning under advisement, but he also acknowledges the complexity of the situation considering who Nate is to him.
Considering Nate leaves his impromptu meeting with Lily in a huff, which bothers her a great deal, and Victor trashes the idea of the once COO returning to Chancellor-Winters, it’s starting to look like Nate may not be welcomed back into the family fold — in business anyway.
So where does that leave Nate in terms of a career? Well, this is where things could get rather interesting.
Audra (Zuleyka Silver) recently offered Nate the opportunity to join her scheme with Tucker (Trever St. John) to take over Jabot. Nate was initially resistant to the idea, but again in the episode airing on December 5, Nate sits with his friend and tells her, "Let’s see where Devon and Lily stand. If they don’t value family as much as I do, then I’m in."
Should Nate join Tucker and Audra, we can’t see that boding well for healing his family unity. His cousins already think Nate is callous when it comes to business, willing to sell out his relatives and morals to feed his ambition. Nate partnering with Tucker, someone more cutthroat than him, won’t signal the change Nate’s been professing to have made. Plus, given Devon is in a very rocky place with his biological father these days, Devon is not likely to be happy with Nate for working with Tucker to strip the Abbotts of their family legacy.
We have to say, a Tucker/Audra/Nate alliance may be fun to watch in action and sure to ruffle more than just Lily and Devon’s feathers.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus.
