Although The Young and the Restless’ Jordan (Colleen Zenk) is now locked behind bars, the chaos she unleashed on the Newman family is far from over.
Newly confirmed Newman, Claire (Hayley Erin), is in the midst of a mental health crisis as she tries to make sense of the fact her great-aunt lied to her for her entire life. While Claire is set to confront Jordan in prison to get some clarity so she can move forward, trying to undo all of Jordan’s damage is bound to take some time.
Then there’s Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). From the moment Jordan and Claire hooked her to an IV full of alcohol, the Newman matriarch has been unable to get back on track with her sobriety. Since being back in Genoa City, she’s constantly sneaking around town taking sips of liquor (mainly vodka).
So again, Claire and Nikki are suffering quite a bit these days, and in The Young and the Restless episode airing on January 11, Victoria (Amelia Heinle) finds herself in the middle of wanting to help them both.
In the episode in question, Victoria goes to Newman Enterprises to ask Victor (Eric Braeden) if she can borrow the company jet and members of the Newman security team to head to Oregon with Claire and Cole (J. Eddie Peck) to confront Jordan. Victor isn’t sold on the idea despite his daughter’s pleas, and then enters Nikki.
Nikki is adamant that Victoria and Claire stay far away from Jordan, calling the latest soap villain a threat. Mrs. Victor Newman believes Jordan could do something maniacal should they go through with this visit, and is insistent they don’t go. Nikki even goes as far as to claim, "Over my dead body."
While Victoria respects Nikki’s position, the former "Ice Princess" asserts that she has a chance to be a mother to her daughter, an opportunity she was robbed of for years. So Victoria wants to support Claire in this move if it’s something that will help her heal. Unfortunately, Nikki just can’t recognize any benefit coming from Claire meeting with Jordan.
Having heard the arguments about the issue, Victor finally gives into Victoria’s requests. The decision sends Nikki spiraling, who exits and goes to her office and drinks from her flask. She later shows up at the Genoa City Athletic Club hoping to get another cocktail, but Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman) finds a stumbling Nikki and tries her best to convince Nikki to sober up.
With all of that being said, Victoria stuck in the middle of helping Claire see Jordan and attempting to respect her mother’s feelings on the issue, may be an indication that Victoria will find herself in this position more often in the immediate future.
Yes, Nikki did rescue Claire when Jordan kidnapped her and promised to support her granddaughter. However, we can imagine that sentiment changing as Claire in many ways is a constant reminder of how years of Nikki’s sobriety were destroyed.
If Victoria and Cole’s daughter hadn’t blown into town, Nikki would seemingly still be sober. As the latter continues to process her feelings about all she’s been through over the past few months, she may begin harboring resentment towards Claire, even if she knows Claire is also a victim of Jordan.
This could eventually put Victoria in the awkward spot of trying to constantly defend Claire to Nikki (and the rest of the Newmans for that matter). An unfair place to be in for a woman who desperately wants to connect with her daughter, yet considers her mother to be her best friend.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
