The level of infighting among The Young and the Restless’ Newman family was at an all-time high just a few short months ago. Victor (Eric Braeden) stepped back into the role of CEO of Newman Enterprises, demoted Victoria (Amelia Heinle) in the process, faked a mental decline and vowed to give Adam (Mark Grossman) a top spot at the company.
Victoria was obviously the one most upset by Victor’s latest round of scheming, and it looked as if she was ready to up the ante in arguing with her dad. Then Claire (Hayley Erin) and Jordan (Colleen Zenk) rocked the Newman world.
Now that DNA has proven that Claire is Victoria and Cole’s (J. Eddie Peck) daughter, and Jordan was arrested in the episode airing on December 26 thanks to Claire and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), the Newmans are looking forward to what happens next. For Victoria, she is focused on how to be a mother to a daughter she was robbed of a chance to raise. Claire is rather fragile at the moment having been lied to and emotionally manipulated by Jordan for her whole life, so Victoria wants to do what she can to see Claire placed on the right track.
In the episode airing on January 2, Victoria gets some sage advice from Sharon (Sharon Case). The former sisters-in-law talk about the whole Claire/Jordan ordeal, which is actually kind of perfect considering Sharon also had to build a relationship with Mariah (Camryn Grimes) as an adult after the latter’s survival as a child was previously unknown.
After conversing for a bit, Sharon suggests that Victoria take some time off from Newman to focus on Claire. By the end of the January 2 episode, Victoria declares to her family she’s going to do just that.
With all of this in mind, we tend to think Victoria may soon find her mothering duties to Claire complicated as the rest of the Newman family is brought up to speed about what happened at the lakehouse in Oregon. We’re of course talking about Claire’s new siblings and cousins.
Reed (Tristan Lake Leabu), Johnny (Paxton Mishkind) and Katie (Sienna Mercuri) may not be happy to learn they have an older sister who almost tried to kill their mother, grandparents and uncle. Even if they somehow sympathize with Claire for the trauma she endured growing up, they may still feel a way about her past deadly actions.
Additionally, it’s easy to imagine Victoria’s other children developing some jealousy of Claire. Victoria walks away from Newman Enterprises for her oldest daughter, a move she’s never felt the need to do for her other children. Johnny and Katie in particular may become envious as Claire gets to spend so much time with Victoria while they’re away at boarding school.
Then there’s Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) adult children. There’s a very real possibility that Summer (Allison Lanier), Faith (Reylynn Caster) and Noah (Rory Gibson) claim they want nothing to do with Claire. After all, Claire not only kidnapped and poisoned their dad which led to Jordan stabbing him, but Claire is the reason Nikki relapsed in her sobriety. Nick’s kids are fiercely protective over their father and grandmother and may resent Claire and treat her as a threat.
So if Victoria’s kids start out disliking Claire and Victoria’s nieces and nephew don’t approve of Claire either, it’s likely viewers will see Victoria being more than Claire’s mother. The thawing Ice Princess may also become Claire’s defender and public relations consultant with the next generation of Newmans.
The Young and The Restless episodes air on weekdays on CBS. Episodes can also be streamed on Paramount Plus.
